Let's All Be Friends Together
by Sashocirrione
Summary: Misa pledged her friendship to him when she didn't know he was L, and Light formed a strong bond with L while chained to him. Now both Kiras have a strange scheme to convert L to their side and create a threesome relationship in the process.
1. Prologue

**Title: **"Let's All Be Friends Together"

**Author: **Sashocirrione

**Spoilers: **MAJOR Spoilers for everything up to episode 25 of the anime, chapter 58 of the manga. Spoiler for L's real name. Minors spoilers, mostly in a vague way, for some events and characters after the ep25/chap58 boundary.

**Warnings: **NO UNDERAGE READERS. Rated M for a reason. Sexual activities, violence, coarse language. Depending on how you interpret various degrees of coercion and mind control, there is a situation of dubious sexual consent that may count as very much rape-like. Scenes of severe mobility deprivation. Contains disturbing themes in general.

**Summary: **Misa pledged her friendship to him when she didn't know he was L, and Light formed a strong bond with L while chained to him. Now both Kiras have a strange scheme to convert L to their side and create a threesome relationship in the process. This is a captivity situation with bondage but only a little violence and no physical torture. It is what I would call creepy-fluffy where fluffy aspects and dark aspects often coexist together, and some of the story elements have disturbing implications if you think about them, yet things are not extremely dark. If you are looking for dark and angsty you'll probably be disappointed, and if you are looking for pure fluff you'll probably be squicked by some of the disturbing elements.

**Pairings: **LightxLxMisa threesome as the main focus, also with some independent LightxL and LightxMisa and LxMisa

**Additional Notes: **In those few details where the manga canon and the anime canon are different, this fanfic follows the manga canon more. All the canon events previous to the start of this fic have occurred as normal, but afterwards the storyline diverges more and more. Portions of the prologue, before things diverge from canon, are almost identical to manga dialogue and events. Misa is more perceptive and compassionate than in canon, and Light possibly is too, depending on exactly how readers interpret his motives for several actions he takes within this fic. Also, some Death Note rules are interpreted differently than in canon or new rules are added in order for certain plot events to happen.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Death Note, and I do not make any money from these writings.

* * *

**Prologue**

_Stand here, face the East, and... the closest large tree. That must be it!_

Misa was anxious as she knelt down, took out a small trowel, and dug at the foot of the tree. She hoped it was the right place, that she hadn't messed up things again. Rem had outlined the basics of the situation during that chat in the Yotsuba bathroom, but there was so much still unknown... there simply hadn't been any time for Rem to do a detailed telling of the events Misa couldn't remember.

It was difficult to deal with that lack of memory. After that chat, Misa had guessed that continuing to chase Higuchi was probably the right thing to do, and then, much later, Light had quite obviously regained his memory, but he had only been able to whisper a few instructions in her ear, soft enough to not be caught by the microphones, before she was sent away. There hadn't been time or space for anything else, not with all those surveillance cameras in the headquarters building.

Everything was hanging by a thread. Things could so easily go badly at any moment. She was tired and hungry from circling the city for hours to throw off any followers that Ryuzaki might have set on her trail, but she dared not to touch the apple in her purse.

The trowel hit. There was something! She tossed the trowel aside, hoping not to harm the object, and dug with her bare hands.

The cold November soil was chilly and hard, abrasive. Plastic gradually came into view and then a boxy outline... a box wrapped in layers of plastic and all sealed up with tape. Gently, she tugged at it with her fingernails, easing the tape off.

_I will help Light. This time, he'll be saved and he'll know I'm valuable. I'll do whatever it takes._

Her entire focus was on the object, peeling back layers, and at last slipping the cover off the box and seeing the slim black notebook with simple white words printed across the cover. She reached, touching, and it hit her all at once as she gripped the notebook tightly, memories flowing. It was just a little jolt as her mind re-adjusted itself, and then all the parts of herself were in the proper order again, her memories full and complete, ready to be of service. She smiled as she paged through it, remembering it all.

An envelope fluttered down from between the pages, and she opened it.

The letter inside it read:

_**Misa, if you are reading this letter, then I believe that you have regained all of your memories.**_

_**Do you remember my friend that you once met when you visited me at To-Oh University, the one who introduced himself as Hideki Ryuga but whose name you saw was different with your eyes?**_

_**I would like you to write his real name on this death note and get rid of him for me. But if you do so straight after you find this letter, then it would probably happen right after you and I get released. I will give you a cue when to do it, so wait for my direction.**_

_**I want you to burn this letter as soon as you finish reading it. As for this death note, remove a few pages that you will be able to hide and dispose of at any time, and bury the note itself for the time being. Also, I'd like you to touch me with a piece the next time you see me. If you do for me what I've asked you to do, then I, Light Yagami, will love you, Misa Amane, until death parts us.**_

She set the letter down on the ground, upset that she hadn't brought a lighter to burn it immediately, thinking intensely as its message sank in.

_It's clear from this that Ryuzaki... Hideki Ryuga... is L. That person who speaks through the computer to us as L, that must be somebody else. I knew Ryuzaki worked for the real L, but I didn't think... I never thought... it's actually him! He's L! Wow!_

And then there was the other troubling thought. To kill L, to kill Ryuzaki.

Had Light really meant to go so far? It had been fun to plan the death of L when he was an abstract person, a stranger. But now, after months of living in the same building with him, spending lots of time with him, facing dangers and risking death together, working as a team, declaring friendship between the three of them...

A sudden vivid memory flashed, of the feeling of Ryuzaki's warm cheek under her lips, and the way he'd put his hand up to touch the spot as she drew back from the kiss, as if he didn't quite believe it had happened. And then, what he'd said: 'I could fall for you.'

Misa's heart constricted. This wasn't like killing strangers. She felt the weight of the decision pressing down on her.

_Light's letter says that it won't be right away. In case we have to do it, I should remember his name._

Misa closed her eyes and placed her hands in her lap, remembering well the day she'd first met "Hideki Ryuga" as one of Light's college friends. His face was clear in the memory. She'd only glanced at his name and lifespan long enough to realize that "Hideki Ryuga" wasn't his real name, and she'd been about to say something to Light when Light had shaken her shoulders and forcibly changed the subject.

Back then, "Ryuga" had seemed like a random person of no consequence. He had been kind of strange and cute, quirky, especially with him fawning the way he did over her, with that intense stare and his flat voice. She'd thought at the time that all the emotion had been shocked out of his voice at actually meeting Misa-Misa the model. No, it was actually just his usual near-monotone as Misa found out later, but she had truly thought she was meeting a flabbergasted fan. She hadn't paid much attention to him in all the chaos.

_The name is... the name is..._

She couldn't quite see it in her memory. It hadn't been "Ryuzaki", of that she was sure. It hadn't even been written in kanji. It was in Roman letters, and she hadn't studied them very much. Fiercely, she tried to remember.

_If only I'd realized he was important at the time, I would have committed that name to memory. I would have used those three days before Rem erased my memory to memorize it so well, there wouldn't be any problem now. Light should have told me that his friend 'Hideki Ryuga' was L during one of our meetings, so I would have been prepared._

Misa exerted more effort, trying to recall every last detail of meeting Ryuzaki, and it all came clear, all except the name. She could even remember the exact feeling of that hand on her butt, the hand that was probably a touch from Ryuzaki, thinking back on it.

_No, no, it's no good. I'm sorry, Light! I don't... I can't... remember the name. I was seeing dozens, no, hundreds of names and lifespans every single day. Even though I got my memory back, I won't be able to remember all of those names. _

_I should have known to memorize the real name of a person who was going by a fake name. Light thought I could manage that much; he thought that I would be at least that intelligent! What can I do? I can't help Light. If Ryuzaki's name ends up being a life or death matter, Light will hate me! If I just remember the name, he'll love me until death!_

The memory of that day was so bright in her mind, the memory of everything except the name and lifespan. She supposed that she'd only paid the name as much attention as she would have to advertising signs on a street corner where an important memory occurred. Advertising signs in some English gibberish, rather than any commonly-used English words. Foreign names were the worst to remember.

She shouted, "Ahhh! It's not coming back to me at all! Misa, you are so stupid!"

She could feel tears prickling at her eyes, and she clenched her hands into fists in her lap. The ground's chill was beginning to seep heavily upward, through her thick winter tights and into her legs.

_Maybe it's better this way, if I don't know Ryuzaki's real name. Light wrote this letter almost half a year ago, and so much has happened since then. Perhaps Light doesn't really want to kill Ryuzaki any more than I do._

_But, Light did tell me to come here, and he has his memories, so he would remember this letter was still here so... if we get close to being caught, we need that name to be sure we can win. Maybe Ryuzaki will just give up if we prove that we know his name and we won't need to kill him._

Buried underneath that fear of Light dying, it was a relief deep inside to think that Ryuzaki wouldn't die. There was a warmth in her heart about Ryuzaki, the funny little man who always said such odd things, and had all those tremendously cute little mannerisms and... Light, Light obviously loved him too. Light looked at Ryuzaki, at L, in a way that Light looked at nobody else - highly interested, eyes almost sparkling.

The two geniuses had conversations that seemed more interesting and convoluted than any Misa had heard before, things she could barely even hope to follow, but the two men simply understood each other in every way, their minds fitting together perfectly. They were always explaining what each other was thinking to the rest of the investigation team, their thoughts moving in unison. It was hard to think of Light continuing alone, without Ryuzaki.

Ryuzaki was a friend. Killing a friend, wasn't that wrong? That was the sort of thing criminals did, criminals who deserved to die.

_If we have to kill L to live, I will cry for Ryuzaki, my friend. So soon after losing Mom and Dad... this isn't fair._

But Ryuzaki was L, and L was a criminal, wasn't he? Kira's rule was the law, the law of Light's new world that he was creating, and so chasing Kira was a criminal act in itself, a sin against the god of the new world.

It was wrong of L to try to catch Kira, but it was also his job; it was expected of him by the others on the investigation team, and by all of society.

_Well, I tried to catch Kira, too, and so did Light. All of us were trying to catch Kira together. It's an understandable mistake that each one of us has made. Before Rem told me that Light was the real Kira and I was the second Kira, it seemed right to try to catch Kira._

_Ryuzaki is ignorant because he's used to the old world. If he'd been born into Kira's perfect world, he would understand that Kira is justice. Ryuzaki isn't evil; he's only misinformed._

Misa did want to punish Ryuzaki for chasing Kira and for convincing everyone to do so too; she wanted to pin him down and forcibly mess up his hair while yelling at him about what a wrong thing it was.

But she didn't want to kill him.

_Maybe Ryuzaki is only pretending to catch Kira now, but he wouldn't really turn us in because he's our friend. Wouldn't that be wonderful?_

A little smile spread across her face. It was a pleasant thought, but perhaps a little naive, and if it wasn't true, then Light could die.

_I can't assume we'll be safe just because Ryuzaki said he's our friend. Being L is his job, just as being Kira is Light's job. In a perfect world, they wouldn't be any danger to each other, but Light hasn't made the world perfect yet. _

Images flashed in Misa's mind, memories of her part in the investigation, of all that she'd done to catch Higuchi, and all that Ryuzaki had done to protect her. It was clear, just as it had always been, that Ryuzaki had shown care, in his own gruff and awkward way. The facts of his actions were irrefutable.

_I know Ryuzaki rushed the investigation of Higuchi just to save me. _

_If we'd been able to listen to Higuchi's conversations with Rem for a few days, then he might have let slip big secrets that would cause trouble for Light, like the demonstration killing I'd done, or the fact that memories can be erased, or something to throw doubt on the thirteen-day rule, or the fact that Rem showed up just after Light's arrest and told Higuchi to kill in place of the real Kira._

_But it was only a couple of hours that the task force could listen to Higuchi, and they didn't get any of those clues._

The memories of everything L had done and said in those times was still so fresh in Misa's memory, undeniable. L had discarded many clues, many possible advantages, by rushing in to nab Higuchi so quickly. Those were lost advantages that had certainly tipped the scales in favor of Kira, placing L in a dangerous position where he could lose his life.

_There's no doubt about why he did it, from his own words. Ryuzaki said that we had to catch Higuchi right away, or the next time Higuchi talked to me he'd ask for proof that I was the second Kira and then kill me when I didn't show him any proof. _

_Ryuzaki didn't know that I'd already shown Higuchi the proof, and he didn't know Rem was ready to save me if Higuchi tried anything, so it wasn't really very dangerous for me. _

_That doesn't matter, though. Ryuzaki was still working to save my life._

A couple of tears fell onto her bare hands, quickly chilling in the November air.

_Ryuzaki does care whether I live or die, and he's willing to give up clues to do it. Does he care for me in particular, or is the friendship he declared just a lie? Is this only because of the way L has dedicated his life to justice?_

Misa had to admit to herself that L had shown her no special consideration, beyond his reaction to that one kiss and that declaration of friendship.

_It's true that I'm not the only one rescued at the cost of clues. Ryuzaki did save Matsuda's life too, and maybe if Ryuzaki had left him there to die instead, the investigation would have found the clues they needed to figure out how Kira kills._

Somehow, it didn't seem quite so special if it were just a side effect of L's dedication to justice, instead of an expression of friendship and closeness.

_In any case, it is true that L put his own life at some risk in order to save mine, even despite him saying there's no doubt I'm the second Kira. It would be a horrible tragedy to kill him now; a betrayal of what Kira stands for. But, I might have to. If L moves against Kira, we need to find some way to stop L. I can't lose Light._

_I could trade for the shinigami eyes again. Then, I would only need to see L's face once more, even just a photo. Light is capable of getting that for me, I'm sure. It would make up for my mistake in forgetting L's real name and then I wouldn't have to worry that Light would hate me for being such a stupid burden._

It was tempting to just do it, so very tempting, to help Light, to be ready to strike at any moment if needed, to prove she wasn't useless, wasn't in the way.

_I got Light caught. It was my fault L had us both arrested, and so then Light had to try this plan of distracting L with Higuchi._

Danger was circling, stalking, coming closer day by day to her precious Light.

_He could be exposed as Kira. It doesn't matter of I die to save Light, but-_

There was a swooshing noise overhead and Misa looked up just in time to see Ryuk land on a branch and crouch there.

She shouted, "Ryuk!"

Ryuk simply replied, "I've returned to the human world," and jumped from the branch to the ground, his wings retracting and shrinking as his hulking, gangly form lurked above her.

Misa said, "Haven't seen you in ages! How've you been, Ryuk?"

Misa launched herself upward and was just able to wrap her arms around his neck at the very height of her leap. Her body dangled, feet off the ground, but it was so good to see a familiar face, even a demonic-clown face, of someone who wasn't chasing Kira. Ryuk wasn't exactly an ally, but he was useful and friendly and he had no objections whatsoever, and that felt great when enemies were all around.

Ryuk shivered under the hug and didn't answer. He just kind of shuffled his feet, a blush moving across his bluish-white face, and then, quite suddenly, he said, "Sorry," and wasn't tangible any more.

Misa fell, her arms slipping right through his ghost-like form, and landed hard on her butt on the forest floor.

Ryuk said, "Believe it or not, I'm a male. It's just kind of awkward."

_What a silly monster!_

Misa laughed and got the apple from her purse, holding it up just to see Ryuk's expression and the way he started drooling all over his chin.

"Oh, yeah," she said, "Light told me to bring this."

"Oh, ho!" Ryuk said and snatched it, devouring the apple with noisy crunches. Misa tried not to think about the decisions hanging over her, and merely smiled at his funny antics.

She asked, "Is it really that tasty?"

"Yeah! Apples from the human world are so juicy!"

Ryuk looked thoughtful for a moment as he licked the last traces off his lips, and then his long, lanky arm reached over his shoulder, his hand rummaging somewhere deep within the big feathery shoulder-poufs that his wings had become.

He pulled out a strange fruit and said, "Here's the apple I was eating a minute ago in the shinigami realm. You wanna try?"

Ryuk held it out, the apple resting on the claw-tips of his gloved, gigantic hand.

It looked more like a pepper than an apple; a very withered, old, strangely-shaped pepper. As she reached out and took it, even its skin felt dry as old paper.

It didn't smell bad, though, so Misa took a bite, and the insides almost crumbled into her mouth, gritty and dry as dust.

She spit out her mouthful and dropped the apple, yelling, "Ewww! Sandy!"

"See what I mean?" Ryuk said, "They are ever so dry."

Misa sighed and started telling Ryuk everything that had happened since she'd last seen him. While she talked she removed pages from the death note, just as Light had requested, and then carefully buried everything else again. She ended her summary with her dilemma about the name, and about L.

When she'd finished, Ryuk said, "It's not your fault. Even Light wouldn't be able to remember every name he wrote just because he got his memories of the note back. Actually... well... in his case, he might."

"See, Ryuk? It is me. I'm just not good enough at this, at being the second Kira. I should have guessed what Light wanted. Light told me that L had approached him in person. I should have memorized the names of anyone I saw near Light, no matter the circumstances, especially anyone going by a fake name."

The tears were squeezing out again, and she just wanted to make it better.

"Ryuk, if I did trade for the eyes again, I'd get my lifespan halved a second time, right?"

Ryuk's eyes started glowing in excitement. He said, "Yeah, that's exactly what would happen. If you agree, it's fine by me."

Misa tried to think the way that Light would think, to interpret his wishes. The letter was old. The plan on it, to get L's real name and then to wait a long time to throw off suspicion before killing him, that wouldn't work now. Rem was stuck following Light and everyone would have to notice this before too long.

Thinking of killing L made her stomach feel sick. It was wrong and mean and exactly what real criminals would do.

_L's real name is useful, though, even if we don't kill him. Light might be able to use it in a plan where we threaten L into never arresting us again._

"This plan in the letter is really old," Misa said, "and so many things have happened. I'm sure Light wants to do something at least slightly different now, because this plan won't work. It would be stupid of me to just throw away half my life based on stuff Light wrote that isn't the plan any more, don't you think? Besides, if we do end up needing Ryuzaki's real name, maybe I'll just happen to remember it in a day or two, and then I'd feel just awful if I'd already done the deal."

"I suppose so," Ryuk said.

_What would Light do? I'll try to whisper in his ear again, if the task force will let me visit with him on the stairway outside the building, but how much can we talk that way until everyone gets suspicious? Can Light really tell me his new plan right under their noses?_

_But I can't get him to leave and go somewhere private, or everyone will notice Rem is following him._

_Well, they are pretty stupid except for L, and everyone else is against L's ideas now. Maybe Light and me can have long, complicated talks that way._

A sudden idea popped into Misa's mind and she said, "Ryuk, does a human really need to have ownership of a death note to do the eye deal? Like, if someone who never owned one wanted to do the eye deal with you, would they be able to get the eyes?"

Ryuk froze for a moment and then said, "Well, I feel a little bit sorry for you, so I'll tell you the truth. Most of the rules have loopholes, ways of getting around them. Some of the loopholes are a lot of work, but this one isn't so difficult. I'll let you know how to do it, if you'll buy me more apples than I can eat today."

"Yeah! I'll buy them!"

_This is great! I'll tell Light another secret that I found first, and he'll be so proud. Any time we need to know a name, we can get a dedicated Kira supporter to see it for us. That way, we'll be able to live happily together for the longest time!_

But there was still the matter of not killing Ryuzaki. Misa was sure of it now; she was going to insist on his survival being part of the plan. But she had faith in Light. Light was always able to create the best plans. He'd be able to think of something that would work perfectly and would still leave Ryuzaki alive. Light was such a genius that it wouldn't be any problem at all.

_Once Light can see and hear Ryuk again, I can even lurk nearby and send Ryuk into the headquarters building with all sorts of secret messages for Light, if they stop us from meeting each other or if it seems too suspicious for our whispering in each other's ears to go on for too long._

Misa put her purse over her shoulder and jumped up.

"Come on, Ryuk," she said, as she ran between the trees, heading back towards the path, "let's get those apples for you. I know everything is going to work out perfectly!"

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

After this prologue, there will be no more scenes or partial scenes lifted from canon. Everything is fully divergent from the start of chapter 1.

Also, the prologue is the only part of this fic that is from Misa's viewpoint. Everything else will be from L's viewpoint, partly because I think L has a particularly interesting viewpoint, partly because Misa and Light are going to be doing a lot of things unseen by L (and so showing their viewpoints would both reduce the suspense and GREATLY add to the length if I had written it that way).

This fanfic was started and partially written a long time ago, but none of it was ever uploaded at that time. I once again picked up the process of writing it in order to enter it into a Big Bang, which is a type of writing community where writers commit to a minimum length and a deadline, and get paired with artists who commit to create art for the fanfic.

It's a way of self-motivation and also something to add some excitement to the process by going through it along with other people. The specific Big Bang I chose is kink_bigbang on Livejournal. Most Big Bangs seem to be fandom-specific, and since Death Note doesn't have a Big Bang specifically for it, and there are only a handful of multi-fandom ones, I had a limited selection to choose from if I wanted to have my fic revealed without a really long wait.

If you want to see the artwork by Technoranma, you need to go to the Livejournal community kink_bigbang. I've got a link on my fanfiction dot net profile that goes to the master post.

On this archive, I'm going to be uploading one chapter per day, but the completed fanfic is already fully available on kink_bigbang.


	2. Caught

**CHAPTER 1: Caught**

It happened while L was asleep.

Higuchi had been caught and things were obviously proceeding to the next stage of Kira's plan, whatever that was. Light had always been within the view of multiple cameras, so he wasn't orchestrating anything directly. That much had been clear. And yet, L had the persistent, nagging feeling that Light was going to strike at any moment, swiftly, decisively, in a completely devastating way.

Some things made a great deal of sense in L's mind, but other parts of the case were as mysterious and difficult to decipher as they'd ever been, leading L in mental circles and to logical dead ends.

It had been five coffee-fueled days and nights since L's last time asleep, and he had known that he needed to refresh his mind and renew his strength. He hated the necessity, as always, but sleep was indeed a necessity, an unavoidable weakness. And so he'd picked a random bedroom of the many empty ones available and had allowed himself to lose consciousness, depending on the cameras and Watari and all the security measures of the building that he'd designed himself to protect him.

It had been quite useless.

Sleep was indeed a terrible weakness.

L woke up to a suffocating weight, feeling gigantic bony hands grasping him as the body above pinned him. A blanket had been wrapped around his head, cutting off his vision.

_The shinigami._

L screamed to alert the others, as much as was possible in a soundproof room where the sound could only get out through the audio feeds of surveillance cameras, and he kicked out hard with both legs, connecting with something, feeling and hearing bone crunching just slightly under his kick.

Rem's voice came, calm and strong.

"It does not matter, human. I heal almost instantly and I do not feel pain from physical injuries."

Long fingers pinned his arms to his sides in a vice-like grip. L kicked, sliding out from under the shinigami as much as he could, twisting and screaming again and wondering if anything was of use against a shinigami or whether he'd just die, and why he hadn't been killed yet, and if any of the others were still alive.

For his trouble he was roughly flipped over, still with no visuals but with the blanket pulling tighter around his head, and then human hands were on him in addition to Rem's.

"Light?" L said.

L scratched hard at the closest human hand and heard a pained hiss, and then suddenly the shinigami's weight was on him heavier than ever and he tried to gasp but couldn't breathe at all.

Chilly metal slipped around both his wrists behind his back and he heard the click of handcuffs snapping shut.

_If Rem does not feel pain from physical injuries, does that mean there is some nonphysical way to hurt her?_

L wished that he had thought far enough ahead to stock up on some superstitious supplies. Garlic, holy water, Buddhist prayer charms, an exorcist... whatever might work against a shinigami? Any attempt was better than nothing. His mind raced, trying to grasp at anything, any way to strike at Rem, as he became dizzy from being crushed so hard into the bed. No air flowed into his lungs.

He could feel his handcuffed hands being wrapped around and around with something that was obviously duct tape, horrendously sticky and strongly immobilizing, and then he was flipped over, his head free of the blanket, and took a huge gasping breath as he got the first view of his captors. Light and Rem were both in the bed, crouched over him.

Light said, "Hold him securely while I get his legs."

L screamed again, and kicked as hard as he could, but Rem was as solid and unmoving as a statue while Light fastened on metal shackles and then proceeded to wrap L's legs in layers of duct tape from the ankles to the upper thighs.

_Except for the shackles, if I could get out of my jeans, I'd have my legs free._

L said, "Rem, you were watching Misa on that monitor, then, weren't you? What was it that provoked such a strong reaction? Did you see another shinigami?"

Rem said nothing.

_Probably been instructed not to let any information out without Light's permission._

The shinigami maneuvered L into a sitting position so Light could wrap more duct tape, securing L's arms to his torso.

L said, "What are your demands, Kira? You obviously don't intend to kill me."

Without even stopping the tape-winding motions, Light replied, "It's rather presumptuous of you to think you understand this situation. I'm attempting to save your life-"

"From yourself?"

"From you. You're childish and stubborn, L. You would have foolishly pushed yourself to your own death, for no reason. Your sense of justice is admirable in principle, but in practice it is warped. You're too good to die and too intelligent to waste. After all, besides Kira, who has taken care of the most criminals? It's you, L. I am only doing what _you_ would have chosen to do yourself, if you'd had both a clear view of the situation and all the facts."

_So I am not being simply relocated for easy disposal of my body? This sounds like an attempt at brainwashing will be made. Light sees himself as the guardian of a wayward child who must be corrected?_

Rem let go and L jerked, trying to head-butt Light. It didn't work. Light looked as if he had been expecting it, moving aside easily, and L's movements were as limited as a caterpillar, arms and legs bound and useless. He thought of how ridiculous he must look, all trussed up and mostly gray.

L went limp as the shinigami hoisted him up, carrying him as if he were a doll.

"Where are we going, Kira?"

"Call me Light, please."

Light made his way in front, as Rem followed.

L said, "It's ridiculous to pretend that we haven't settled this. You are Kira."

"It's ridiculous that you're childish enough to still want me to confess at this point. Aren't you more concerned about other things now?"

They popped out into the corridor, where there was a new chance, if anyone was listening...

L said, "Good point," and followed it with a scream. Light only covered his ears for a few moments and never halted in his walking.

At the far end of the hallway, they stopped at the elevator and Light input a code that he shouldn't have possessed into the keypad. He caught L's eye and said, "It's presumptuous to think that I wouldn't have cracked most of this building's security by now. Still, it isn't safe to stay here, which is why we're leaving."

"Leaving for where? Who else is still here?"

_Did Light kill them all?_

Light said, "Watari is safe but unconscious. He has enough drugs in his system that he's not going to know which way is up and which way is down even if he does wake up soon, and Misa is there to make sure things go smoothly. It would be completely wrong to kill him if we can save him, don't you think?"

The doors opened and they stepped in.

"And what about the others?"

"The others? You'll find out soon enough. Until then, their fate is none of your business."

L emphatically said, "If this goes badly, you'll have to kill your own father. Are you prepared to do that, Light?"

Light's eyes flashed and then hardened. He said, "If any of my plans had ever gone badly, I would have been required to kill him. I've known this for a long time. It's fortunate, then, that my plans always work. You should be grateful they work, for your own sake."

The doors opened again, into the security room that ultimately led out to the underground parking garage. L hoped that Light wouldn't be able to get through all the security measures, especially since the codes were changed every few hours.

Instead, everything went smoothly for Light. A smug little smile graced Light's face the entire time, and before long Rem was carrying L out into the garage, following Light towards an ominous-looking van with black windows, a van that hadn't been there before. Rem opened up the back, revealing Matsuda in a similarly trussed-up state, looking rather like a human cocoon.

As Rem loaded L in, he said, "Kira, if you torture us, you will then qualify as a particularly despicable criminal yourself."

Light smiled and said, "I'm not Kira, and I'm not going to torture anyone. You're both safe with me. I'm not a torturer like you, Ryuzaki."

Matsuda said, "Light, please let us go! I don't understand why you're doing this!"

L did his best to roll onto his side on the carpeted floor of the van and said, "He's doing it because he's Kira. That should be obvious even to you."

Matsuda said, "No! Light's gone completely crazy. He grabbed me from my bed, he keeps talking about saving us and he even got Rem to somehow believe him!"

Light got into the front of the van, as Rem closed the back doors and then phased through them to crouch between L and Matsuda.

Light said, "I don't blame you for thinking that way, Ryuzaki. Just because I can't tell you my reasoning or my plans, it makes me look suspicious and I seem like Kira. But would Kira save everyone? No."

_I could get Light to make a mistake. If he is angry enough, he may become less rational._

L dryly said, "Kira is a complete psychopath."

There was the slightest hint of tension in Light's shoulders, barely visible from the back as he began driving.

After a few moments heavy with silence, Light said, "I'm simply moving everyone to a new secret location, to save all your lives."

"If that is the case," L said, "then you wouldn't mind me calling your father, would you? He's due to arrive at work for the morning in almost exactly four hours, and I'm sure he'll want to know the building isn't safe and that he could die if he goes there."

"No, I've already taken care of everything. Thanks for asking. By the way, this van is soundproof, so you can scream all you want. If it becomes too annoying I'll have Rem gag you."

L did try to scream his way out of the situation at various points on the trip, but nothing happened. If there were outside observers, and there must be plenty in Tokyo, they heard nothing. By the time the van stopped, he was gagged firmly, along with Matsuda.

Then Rem was suddenly pinning him again, the carpeted floor of the van digging into his neck, as Light crawled into the back with a syringe in hand. L kicked as well as he could, which was almost not at all.

Light's voice was serene.

"Don't worry, L. I won't hurt you. This is just something to make you sleep so you won't cause trouble. It's for your own good."

As the world blurred and slipped away, L could just barely hear Light saying, "We wouldn't want you to hurt yourself, after all."

Eventually, L woke up blinking, looking at a plain white ceiling and then glancing to one side and seeing Light sitting cross-legged on the floor of a padded, quilted substance that also covered the walls. Light was wearing a suit, but L could feel that he himself was nearly naked, with metal cuffs lined with soft material around his ankles and wrists. He glanced down and saw a diaper. He could feel that he hadn't soiled it, yet.

Light said, "This is the best I could do on short notice, without asking for too many sacrifices."

_A padded room and... chains leading into holes in the floor from all my cuffs. One door to the room. Spacious - I could get a running start for a devastating blow. If I could obtain a weapon, I might be able to hide it under the padding until the correct time._

L pulled with his arms and legs, trying the chains and finding that they didn't budge.

L said, "How many workers died to create this?"

Light replied, "The fewest number possible, and I can assure you all of them were hardened Yakuza members, fully deserving of the unsuspicious deaths that will arrive for them soon."

"I don't like my room."

Light had a strange little smile on his face as he said, "I thought you'd say that. It's really not my choice, though. Each prisoner's environment is determined by their intelligence or by the abilities I know or suspect them to have. You're going to stay like this until the next stage of my plan. I'm afraid that with Wedy's escape-artist tendencies, she will have to remain in a medically-induced coma for the duration of this experiment. Matsuda, however, has been allowed his clothing and always has his chains at the furthest distance."

"Furthest distance?"

"There are four cranks outside your room. I can determine exactly how much slack to give you. You'll only be given slack on special occasions. Now, you've been unconscious for ten hours. I've already changed your diaper twice. Do you want to continue using diapers, or have access to a toilet?"

Instead of answering, L said, "What are you trying to do, Light? What is the experiment?"

Light smiled and said, "It's an experiment to make you and everyone else into non-dangerous opponents."

"An attempt to create Stockholm syndrome, then?"

Light sniffed derisively and said, "No, I have far more class than that. It's going to be more glorious than you can imagine, and when it's over you'll still have your free will."

_Then, it's Stockholm syndrome with a large side-helping of delusions of grandeur. If I can't escape I may have to precisely calculate when to pretend to give in. Too soon and it's not believable. Too late and I may risk my mind._

L pulled at the chains, but he still wasn't able to make them budge. He remained spread-eagled on his back.

Light said, "Now, do you want to continue using diapers, or will you use a toilet? Either way you won't be allowed clothing. You're so intelligent that I can allow almost nothing into your reach."

"I'm cold. Please give me clothing."

"I'll turn up the temperature a few degrees. Now, diaper or not?"

_Access to a toilet allows better opportunities for escape plans._

L said, "No diaper."

Light reached forward and began pulling off the sticky tabs that fastened the diaper shut. L closed his eyes, hating it.

_This is not intolerable. He's seen me naked plenty of times. We showered together for months._

The diaper was pulled away, leaving behind cold air and a sensation of intense vulnerability. L felt goose bumps running up and down his entire body in response. He opened his eyes to see Light, just a slight distance away from his chained-down body, pulling at the heavily-quilted floor.

Part of the floor came up in Light's hands, a flap, like a trap-door opening. L tried to push his head upward but couldn't get much of a view.

Light said, "This is your toilet. If you lower your hindquarters into it, the machine will form a seal around you, and you can release waste of either kind. It is somewhat modeled on the zero-gravity toilets they use in space. Afterwards, strong jets of warm soapy water will clean you and then regular water will rinse you, and blasts of hot air will dry you. Once you are dry and clean, the machine will release you. Hands are not needed."

L said, "What is this place?"

"It's the exact opposite of the headquarters you built. It's a building outfitted with _my_ security measures. I've gone to a great deal of trouble for everyone's safety and comfort. And, instead of being as wasteful as building a skyscraper in downtown Tokyo for just a few people, this building only has as many rooms as we need. Parts of it are quite like the interior of a house."

"Then everyone else is here too?"

"Of course," Light replied, "it would be too much trouble to care for them if they were spread across the city. I'm sure you've already deduced that much."

Scanning the all-white room once again, L was certain that he could pick out at least three cameras, up where the ceiling joined the walls, each one small and mostly white and almost indiscernible. He was certain there were more.

Light said, "I realize you'll be bored and after enough time your mind will seem to close in around you. I hope to spare you that suffering, and so I'll bring in a voice-activated television as soon as I can install it behind a shatterproof barrier, far enough from you that it won't be dangerous. We'll also talk to you and read to you though the voice link and sometimes in person."

"May I talk to Watari?"

"No."

L asked, "Any of the others?"

"Occasionally, under very restricted circumstances. Otherwise you would start scheming with them, creating some escape plan that would probably get you killed. Self-harm will not be tolerated even slightly. If you attempt to injure yourself, I'll be forced to keep you chained down in a diaper at all times or, in the worst case scenario, to put you in a medical coma."

_So, I'll be trained and conditioned with rewards, threats and punishments. I suppose it is better than torture, but it is still uncertain as to whether Light might try adding torture at some later time._

In a different, commanding voice, Light said, "Misa, give him 84 centimeters on his arms, 42 on his legs."

With a mechanical sound beneath him, quieter than L would have expected, the chains began feeling slightly slack. L pulled at them, but the chains were determined to only slide out of their holes at their own slow speed. Light retreated out of reach as the process continued and L pulled his arms and legs slowly, slowly closer to his body.

Light said, "If you need to use the toilet, call out and either Rem, Misa or myself will give you enough slack to do so. I'm afraid we can't afford you any privacy. There are many hidden cameras in the corners of this room. Someone will always be watching and listening."

There was a gloating smile on Light's face, as if he were imagining the payback inherent in the situation.

L managed to sit up, a sudden fit of dizziness hitting him from the long immobility, and then he could curl his legs, drawing his knees to his chest in his favored position. He felt cold and awkward and supposed he must look ridiculous.

Light said, "You'll be offered showers once a week, with Rem supervising you when we let you out of your chains. The padding directly underneath your body will be removed and laundered at those times. You'll get fed three times a day, and we'll help you brush your teeth and comb your hair so that we don't have to risk giving your hands much slack. You will also have once-a-day exercise sessions when you'll be allowed enough slack to jog back and forth, so you'll be less likely to develop bed sores."

_He expects to keep me a very long time, then. I shouldn't pretend to give in until four months have gone by. The regularity of this schedule should allow me to keep track of the date._

Light said, "Come over here. Even if you're not ready to use the toilet yet, I want to measure how little slack we can still give you and yet have you reach."

L crawled into position. There wasn't enough slack to completely stand up. The toilet, now that he was able to see into the depression, was weirdly-shaped, looking more like a high-tech science-fiction sink made of stainless steel and rubber gaskets than something to receive human waste.

He approached slowly, hiding some of the slack behind his wrists, pretending to need more, to not quite be able to reach the toilet. Light was standing just a bit too far back, but with more slack...

_It's regrettable, but it now seems that execution by my hands is the only way to stop Kira. I'll die, but I've already been expecting that. It is not a tragedy to die._

Light said, "Misa, give him 17 more centimeters."

With that quiet mechanical clacking and hum, a few more links of chain exited from all four holes in the floor.

_It should be possible..._

L used every bit of his training, judging the moment and the slight slack in the chain precisely. It was very unlikely he could kill Light in his current position, as Light simply wasn't close enough, but maybe if Light were distracted by strong pain he would stagger closer, in a better position. And then, simply loop the chain around his neck, strangle him until Misa rushed in, and...

L flicked his wrist in a deceptively simple motion, putting enormous effort into it, using the chain like a short metal whip. It was a blur, snapping upward, and before Light could react the chain had split open the tip of his chin so badly that white bone showed in the bloody gash.

Instantly, Light was out of reach, just that fast, screaming harshly as he held his chin, the blood flowing out between his fingers, the scream rising in pitch, rising, rising, rising.

For a moment L saw anger and insanity flashing in Light's eyes as the screaming continued, and a dread certainty formed in the pit of his stomach, a certainty he would get killed in retaliation.

Then Light stopped screaming and the murderous expression was gone, replaced by a kind of arrogant yet forgiving expression. It was a reproachful, fatherly look, as of a god looking down on a sinner.

_Insane serial killer thinks he's a god._

Between teeth gritted in pain, Light gasped out, "You don't know what you are doing. You have good intentions. You mean well. I would do the same in your place."

It was incredibly strange, hearing Kira speak those words. L didn't bother answering. It had to be a trick. Or was Kira truly that delusional?

The blood dripped down.

Light spun around and staggered out of the room, leaving bright drops of red along his trail.

Just as Light closed the door, that sound started up again and L was drawn backwards by his chains. The toilet trap-door flopped closed as his grasp left it, and it was barely visible. The chains pulled L down and also, though he tried to resist as hard as he could, the chains spread his legs and his arms.

He wondered how strong the machinery was. Images flashed through his mind, of himself being torn to pieces in four directions, an ancient method of execution. But it didn't happen. The chains pulled him back down into his spread-eagle position as before and then stopped, with just enough slack to squirm around a bit and satisfy mild itches or cramps.

What had to be a few minutes later, the door at the far end opened, revealing Misa, framed against a plain hallway with wood paneling. Nothing there looked useful for escape. She was dressed in a plaid miniskirt, a lacy black top, and a torn, over-sized red T-shirt worn over that top, the lace showing through many holes. She removed her shoes before entering the room. Rem glided through a wall to follow.

Misa said, "It was very bad of you to hurt Light, but we forgive you. There is a special doctor in this building helping Light right now. The doctor was killing his patients, so Light recruited him to work in our service before going to his judgment in twenty-three days."

_Another controlled victim. I wonder if there are guards too, and what orders they have if I escape?_

Misa stepped around the trail of blood drops and settled down cross-legged on the opposite side of L. L looked up at her face, searching it for signs of insanity, but it looked no different from before, when she'd been living in the headquarters building and had seemed like nothing more than a young and peppy celebrity. She had sometimes been a great deal of fun, when she hadn't possessed her memories.

Just as with Light's suit, there was something demeaning about being naked while approached by someone so carefully dressed.

L said, "I suppose you won't let me have a blanket either?"

Misa said, "No! Look what you did with just a chain! A blanket could be a weapon to strangle somebody, or to tear to bits and try to use in a scheme. You could end up hurting yourself terribly, perhaps even getting killed. I don't want you to get killed, Ryuzaki... uh, I mean L. You're our friend!"

_Does Misa really care, or is this just part of the Stockholm syndrome plan? I'm alive right now for a reason. Either Light really is delusional enough to think he can recruit me into being a Kira supporter, or these two are too squeamish to kill me. Perhaps a combination of both._

L stared into Misa's eyes, brown now from a lack of contacts, and his mind ran over the time they'd lived together, analyzing every memory. Misa's time had been spent mostly at her modeling and acting jobs, and living on her own floor of the building but available for visits and for frequent dates with Light, while Light spent all but the last five days only a chain-length away. Had there been any clues?

Light had been quite an admirer, when he didn't have his memories. He'd been volatile at times, sometimes quick to start a fight, but overall he seemed glad to be where he was, glad to be working alongside L, the legendary detective he'd always heard about and looked up to. It had been fun, their minds clicking, their thoughts running together in similar channels. Was it hard for Kira to kill someone that his memory-less self had possessed genuine feelings of friendship for? Someone he'd been chained to for months?

It was a very intimate situation, with no choice but to socialize, no choice but to learn each other's nuances of thought and habits and domestic routines. Perhaps Light's guard had been down when he wasn't Kira and he became too attached. Perhaps Kira was only used to killing strangers, and so killing a close acquaintance was an act that was as yet out of his league.

And then there was Misa. She had a painful personal reason to be pro-Kira, but she'd proven herself capable of being anti-Kira, if she thought that Kira and Light were different people. She'd been hostile and annoying at first, but then had settled down into a personality that was much the same as any vivacious, fashion-obsessed woman of her age. She could possibly be manipulated as well.

L said, "Would it bother you if I died, Misa? If your boyfriend killed me?"

"Don't talk like that! Of course you're going to live, Ryuzaki... uh, L."

Misa stared down at his face, her blond hair dangling, her cheeks blushing.

"Both of us like you," she said, emphatically.

Her warm hand brushed gently across the side of his head, his ear, and then down to his neck, lingering there, cupping softly before withdrawing.

In a tender tone, Misa said, "We're working very hard to save your life."

L muttered, "Friends don't keep friends chained to the floor, naked."

"I know," Misa said as her voice started to break, tears trembling in her eyes and almost ready to fall.

Rem stood silently behind Misa, her body language tense, if L were able to read shinigami body language correctly. Once again L had the impression that Rem had been instructed to be quiet, as if she might leak some secret. L stared, trying to decipher what it might be, and Rem glared right back with her single visible eye.

_I must take the chance of trying to manipulate Misa's feelings. Rem undoubtedly likes Misa much more than Light. Based on my research into Misa's family, I think..._

L decided to take the chance, and said, "Would your parents have approved of what you are doing?"

"No," Misa said, and rubbed her eyes. Her make-up smeared just a bit and she sniffled.

"Then why," L said, "don't you simply stop? With a shinigami on your side, I would have no choice but to acknowledge that a stalemate is in effect. I cannot risk the hostages that could be taken by an invulnerable shinigami or the rampage of revenge that might occur if the two of you were to be executed. It would be easy for us to work out an enforceable pact to acknowledge the reality of this stalemate, a pact where you and Light go free as long as all the murder notebooks are handed over and no additional Kira-style slayings occur."

Accusingly, Misa said, "You're still trying to defeat Kira, by taking away the Kira part of Light."

"You do realize it's wrong to kill people, don't you?"

Misa said, "It's not like that!"

Her voice got softer as she added, "It's wrong to have this much power and not try to help the world, isn't it? Light is going to create a utopia. Individuals don't count against something like that."

L said, "If you turn my offer down and continue murdering criminals, _someone_ is going to catch you someday. You must realize that. But, if you stop now and accept the offer of my protection, I can promise you that nobody will ever arrest you."

Rem startled slightly at that statement.

_Interesting._

Misa said, "Light has arranged everything. He talked to Deputy-Director Kitamura as L, and he said that the entire task force would be out of the country chasing a lead in high secrecy, and it might take months or longer. He said none of the investigators would even be able to contact their families because of the security challenges in the situation."

_So nobody will be looking for anyone, except that there is a slight chance Roger might look for Watari and myself after my clock runs down, and of course Aiber's wife would wonder where he went, but she'd have no clue where in the world to even start._

The exposed feeling was bothering him again. He shifted against the padded floor. There was too much air.

"Please," he said, "I really do need a blanket."

Misa patted his hand, as if to comfort, and said, "I'm sorry, but you won't be able to convince me to act against Light's wishes. I have to go now, L, but I'll be back later. I need to help Light, and there are soooo many people to feed and care for."

She got up and retreated, looking over her shoulder several times on the way out. L thought he detected just a hint of blush. Rem lingered behind, staring and staring after Misa had slipped out the door.

L said, "I believe you find my offer attractive."

Rem said nothing, but she soon slid through a wall.

Once Rem was gone, there was nothing to look at in the all-white room except the bright red trail of blood Light had dripped across the floor.

L stared at those drops for hours afterwards. There was nothing else to do. Staring and thinking, thinking and staring. It had strangely become his life. That former life living at the headquarters building, it seemed very far removed, even though it had ended barely a day before.

L wondered if the disconnected feeling were a side effect of whatever drug he'd been given earlier to knock him out.

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

Ever since I wrote _Reeled In _I've been wanting to revisit the idea of a longer fanfic with a Light/L/Misa threesome. I think the smut in _Reeled In_ is good, though it has that somewhat dissatisfying rougher quality all my early works have, but _Reeled In_ is certainly lacking in plot.

It is nearly PWP, considering how flimsy the justifications are. Basically, the justifications all boil down to "L is really, really horny" and if you don't make the assumption that L's horniness outweighs all other considerations, then L is very OOC. Light and Misa are somewhat OOC too, just not very much when compared to L.

I think of _Let's All Be Friends Together_ as a fanfic that was born from my frustrations with _Reeled In_, because that's why I first started developing the idea. I wanted to have a threesome relationship between them (not just one or two sexual encounters) like in _Reeled In_, and I also wanted that relationship to form an alternate-ending type of divergent AU that settles the main issues of Death Note, like in _Reeled In_. At the same time, I wanted my new fanfic to have a completely new plot for why they get together that makes more sense for these characters.

In trying to figure out a more realistic way for this threesome relationship to form, I found myself falling back on the oft-used idea of captivity to create closeness and dependency, to delay any attempts at arrest while the relationship forms, and to allow the opportunity for certain other plot twists to happen that I hope will be fairly unique and a surprise to readers.

I'm not going to re-tread the same ground as _Fifty Days _with its torture and blatant sexual abuse. This should be a different set of events, no torture, and milder types of sexual abuse with more choices offered.

In case you are worried about the status of _Reeled In_, you don't need to worry, I'm not going to delete it just because I'm putting the same basic idea into this new and hopefully improved story. I don't believe in deleting my older works just because I'm seeing them as rougher and more OOC than I saw them when I first wrote them. I think of that as a cruel thing to do to readers. There are many rough, OOC fanfics by other authors that I adore, and I would be very upset if those fanfics disappeared from the internet and I could never go back and re-read them or rec them to friends. So, I would hurt people and be a hypocrite if I deleted _Reeled In_, and you don't have to worry about it.

The worst I might ever do to my fanfics would be to delete them from some archives, but they would always remain available on the internet. I would not delete all copies.


	3. Offered

**CHAPTER 2: Offered**

L's new life revolved almost entirely around his bodily needs. Every few hours, he presumed, there was a meal, and those were the highlights of his day. There was also getting his teeth brushed for him by either Light or Misa while being held still by the shinigami, there was using the toilet which he always did on his own but under heavy scrutiny, and there was having his hair attended to or his body wiped down with a warm, damp cloth, usually by Light.

Misa, Rem and Light were in and out of his room at entirely unpredictable intervals. Without a clock and without any computers, television or even books, it was maddening to wait. Light had set up some incidents, though, to make it entirely clear that L was being watched either directly or through the cameras at all times, by Rem even if nobody else was observing. L felt his own reluctant admiration of Light's intelligence, at the same time that he despised it and thought of what a waste it was for a serial killer to be blessed with such a gift.

It was on what L felt was the third day, according to his sleeping and eating cycles, that he saw the first big change in the routine. Light and Misa both entered his room together, a rarity, and by the expression on Light's face L could tell something was about to happen. Misa's face displayed nothing except generic happiness, probably as a result of her actress training.

"Are you bored, L?" Light said, as he and Misa made their way to a place by L's side, as close as they could get while still being unquestionably out of reach.

"A little," L replied, "I would like to watch the news. Don't expect me to believe that my promised television has taken so long to arrange."

Misa settled on the floor and said, "There are a lot of people for us to care for, and of course there's the plan. All the parts of the plan make extra work! We'll have more time for you soon, I promise."

She reached up and pulled Light down to crouch beside her, nearly in her lap, and blushed a little. L watched them closely, expecting something. Their manner of dress was rather usual for them, and they had nothing with them, no meals, no toothbrushes or washcloths or towels. Light's chin was still in stitches, but it was looking more healed. From the lack of anything with them and their friendly expressions, he guessed it was a social engagement.

_Is this the first step in grooming me towards Stockholm syndrome? How much will they push and how much should I pretend to give in? They both look very slightly nervous._

Light broke the silence by saying, "L, I haven't touched Misa yet. I thought we'd have our first time with each other right here and now, while you watch. You do need... some kind of entertainment to soothe your boredom, and this, this is what you've wanted to see all along, isn't it?"

_What are you hoping to accomplish, Kira?_

"I made my intentions clear before," L said, "as watching anything you two might do would simply be a side effect of keeping both of you under surveillance. You both chose to not do anything at that time, and I was not disappointed."

Light smirked just slightly, and turned his face, Misa leaning in close, and then the two were kissing, their legs just out of reach of L's fingertips as they both shuffled to get into a better position, Light beginning to dominate and to crawl on top of Misa. Her legs were spreading, her mini-skirt riding up and showing the top of her thigh-high stockings and the garters that connected them to unseen lingerie higher up.

Light broke the kiss long enough to pull her shirt over her head and fling it away - not in any useful direction, as L noted it landing far from him - and then Misa flopped backwards onto the padded floor in only her bra, skirt, leggings and whatever was hidden under the skirt. Her nose and cheeks were colored bright pink and her chest heaving as Light's head dipped down to sensuously lave her belly with long, slow licks.

"Kira," she moaned quietly, and there was an answering flash of arrogance in Light's face.

Light was still fully dressed in his usual suit, and there was something about the scene, about Misa's near-nudity contrasted with Light's dignified clothing, and the physical beauty of both participants.

_I need to watch in case there are clues of some kind, or in case they might punish me for not watching. It is entirely normal that I should become slightly aroused by observing a show like this. Misa's a model, after all._

Light pulled off her mini-skirt with his mouth and hands at once, revealing no panties, but a lacy black garter belt connected to those garters. He glanced over at L and said, "Do you wish you were having her right now?"

L sighed.

Light went back to work, licking vigorously along her entire cleft, making her hips jump at the end of each tongue-swipe as he slid over her clitoris. Misa was tremendously pink-flushed over most of her body, squirming and making little feminine breathy gasps. Light smoothly undid his belt in one motion and pulled down his trousers and underwear. Misa's gaze fixed on the exposed erection as he knelt between her spread, trembling legs. Her eyes were full of an adoration so intense it was almost sickening.

_This is a ridiculous and pointless display._

Light hoisted her hips up as she helped by wrapping her legs around his back, their parts almost joining together.

Light stopped right before penetration, the tip of his erection pressed just against her opening, and said, "Would you like to join us, L? She has three orifices. We could both take her at the same time, or we could take turns."

_A conditioning technique. So, Light has finally started his plan to work on my mind. It is a question, now, of how much I can manage it and how much I can deceive him._

L said, "Do you think I'm so desperate for sex that I'd throw away all my principles and join Kira for access to a woman?"

Light replied, "It doesn't matter if you agree with us or not. We're willing to offer you sex regardless of what you believe. You must be... terribly bored."

"We?"

Misa said, "I told you before, L. Both of us like you."

_So that's how it is._

L said, "You too, Light?"

Light smirked, his face smug as he glanced over from the corner of his eyes and said, "Yes. But you have to pay for penetrating Misa. If you get inside her, you have to allow me to get inside you. We'll do both things at the same time so there'll be no chance of you failing to hold up your end of the bargain."

_In any position where that could be accomplished, my chains would need to be loose or removed while both of them were within reach at the same time. It would be a true chance to execute both of them suddenly and end the Kira plan. I would die too, once Rem found out, but my death has always been an acceptable way to end the Kira case. _

_Yet, I can't agree too suddenly, or Light will suspect my plan._

Light said, "Having trouble deciding? Well, in case it makes any difference, we'll offer you a blow job free of charge. We'll both suck your cock until you come, and we won't ask you for anything in return."

_That position would not require them to give me any freedom of movement. However, it is also the most logical choice for me to select first, if I am to create the illusion of truly giving in. It may be that this is a necessary stepping-stone so I can later get in a position to execute them both at once._

_But do I need to appear to waver so that my eventual acquiescence will be believable, and there are other options to explore in the meantime. If the circumstances are just right, I could drive a wedge between them, or at least earn some exploitable loyalty from Misa._

L said, "Misa, is Light forcing you to do this? If you are not completely enthusiastic about the idea of putting on these sex shows and pleasuring me, then Light is committing an atrocity against you and I will refuse to participate."

Misa smiled suddenly and said, "You're so nice, Ryuzaki... uh, I mean L. But I want this, I really do."

Her voice dropped to a husky whisper and she added, "Light wants you too."

Light rocked slightly in place, rubbing the stiff tip of his cock against her swollen pussy lips, and said, "We won't ever force you to personally do anything sexual. You don't have to worry about that. If you decline our offers, you'll still have to watch us, but that's as far as it will go. We won't punish you."

_Are they so sexually inexperienced that they believe this kind of bait can convert me to Kira's side?_

L said, "Will this experience be a first for both of you? Having sex, I mean?"

Misa let out a breathy giggle and looked embarrassed, then said, "Well, it was a long time before I even knew Light existed, so it wasn't my fault!"

"And what about you, Light?"

"I like to learn, so of course I needed to know more about sex than the kind of stuff you find out from books and videos. It was easy to gain the first-hand experience. I discarded each girl afterwards, so I could concentrate on my studies."

"Murdered?"

A frown flashed on Light's face for a moment, and he said, "No. Simply ignored."

_If they're not virgins, then it's entirely possible they're just toying with me psychologically for some reason. Is it for their own pleasure, to unbalance me, or as part of some plan? If they merely wanted to break me, they could outright rape me without making any pretense about it._

In a huskier voice, slightly breathless, Light said, "I don't think he's going to accept now, Misa. Let's show him what he's missing."

Light closed his eyes and began to sink into her. They had positioned themselves in such a way as to give the best possible view. L could see every detail as Misa's pussy lips, pinkened and slightly swollen from pleasure, accepted Light's stiff rod. It was satisfying to see that Light was for once a little flustered, his unusual unruffled appearance and professional demeanor subverted to the base instincts working on his body.

But he was calm in comparison to Misa. She was positively ecstatic. She stared at Light in pure adoration, feverish and excited, her lips silently mouthing, "Kira" as she squirmed vigorously, panting and flushed.

On the third thrust, her body convulsed in an obvious orgasm, head thrown back, neck arched, legs helplessly scrabbling along Light's hips and sides. She was trying to say something, it looked like, but her voice and mouth weren't working properly.

Light continued his movements, hardly faltering but his face showing a difficulty in keeping control. In a few moments, a long shudder went through her and she softly chanted, "Kira, Kira, Kira," almost in time to Light's thrusts.

"I've seen better," L said, "and I've been to live sex shows where I had a closer view."

Light leaned down enough to lick a hardened nipple, making Misa gasp and stop her litany.

Then Light glanced over and said, "You're trying to match me, aren't you? You're still making a game of competing against me. Both of us know that you have little to no experience. You've been celibate for months, at least."

Light's voice was strained a bit, his exertions showing.

L said, "Who is making this a game? You're the one who is fucking his girlfriend in front of me. My months of celibacy merely prove that I'm willing to put all of my focus into my work. I have had sexual experiences."

"Men or women? How long ago?"

"I don't need to reveal the details. It is not relevant."

"You've got an erection, L. Are you sure you don't want us to help you with that?"

"I can manage."

"We aren't going to loosen the chains at any point to allow you to masturbate, and if you start masturbating when we've loosened the chains in order to let you use your toilet, we'll tighten the chains again so you can't finish."

"How vindictive and petty."

"You might be able to masturbate in the shower, if Rem disobeys orders and allows you to do that. You'll have your first shower soon."

Light suddenly stopped talking and pulled at Misa's hips, raising her ass further and changing the angle. Her body seemed limp and rigid all at once, no resistance to him at all as the steady rhythm transitioned into a frenzy of rutting. L suddenly wanted to touch the slick place where they were both joined together, to feel the warm, slippery skin there, to feel the movements in and out.

Almost instinctively, L found himself pulling at his chains, trying to squirm into a more comfortable position. He felt very exposed, especially his erection, standing straight up and quite obviously visible.

_It might be suspicious to accept the first step so soon, but if I delay too long, I risk my will and my mind. Trying to judge the right medium length of time to give in is also dangerous, as Light is probably doing those same calculations of when he thinks I might pretend to give in._

_Suddenly accepting might be unexpected enough to work, indicating my own repressed desires, and even if it does not work, I will gain some data about their true intentions._

"I've changed my mind. Please, both of you, suck my cock."

Light closed his eyes and paused his rhythm, his face at first so nearly controlled that L didn't realize he was having an orgasm. Two involuntary gasps, a deep red flush across his face, and the softened, semen-soaked penis he pulled out of Misa settled the matter.

_An interesting response. Light may be deeply infatuated with me._

Light took off his tie and placed it well out of reach, shed his suit jacket, then unbuttoned his shirt and removed that too.

Misa slipped out of her stocking and garter belt as Light shed the last of his own clothing.

They crawled, naked, to L's feet and sat there, glancing at each other, as if according to some prior signal.

L said, "You can come closer, Light. I won't hurt you. I wouldn't normally want such an act from a man, but I think, after all you've put me through, it would be quite pleasing to watch you suck my cock."

Light said, "I truly doubt that you're one hundred percent heterosexual. Have you forgotten that I've seen you checking me out when we showered together?"

L said, "I was observing. Besides, it is statistically expected that nearly half the male population will experience some kind of homoerotic attraction or activity during their lifetimes. It is normal to be a little curious about the bodies of others of your own sex. Now, are you going to suck it or not?"

Light said, "I think you need a little foreplay first. Shall we start with your feet? I've always wondered if you have a fetish for them."

In unison, they leaned down, each taking one foot in hand, massaging, holding, and popping toes into their mouths one by one to suck. It was wet and intimate and strangely invading, the slight use of teeth from time to time adding a sharp, non-painful surprise.

L had the feeling that somehow, every action and word leading up to this had been carefully scripted. They were two actors performing a scene. Except, that the lust wasn't faked. There was true desire behind those masks.

_Kira likes being chased, is that it? Being chased is exciting, so he creates a fetish out of the pursuer, and of course the second Kira is always a blind follower of the first._

Misa's erotic performance was adequate, her long hair tickling the skin slightly every time it brushed past, but Light was creating a spectacular performance of how much of the foot he could slip into his mouth, jamming the toes far into the back of his throat. L was tempted to wiggle them, but thought there might be unpleasant consequences.

With a slick popping noise, Light's mouth was removed.

Light said, "I think you're even more erect than before. You do have a foot fetish, don't you? Are you desperate to get off? It's been a very long time."

_Not as long as you think, Light._

There had been times in recent months when masturbation was possible, even on the chain. It required incredible stealth and usually a sleeping Light, but it was not too difficult to get relief.

L knew Light occasionally had too, using elaborate schemes to hide it, but blankets could only somewhat obscure things when infrared cameras were also involved. Unlike Light, L had to skim through all the footage recorded during his sleep each morning, and it had been quite obvious that, excluding the first three weeks when Light had completely resisted, Light had masturbated about once a week.

L moved slightly, trying to simulate a more aroused, frustrated state than the one he was experiencing. It was easy to pretend, just a bit more than reality. The arousal was real, courtesy of the sex show, and there was certainly plenty of frustration in the entire situation of being a captive, real emotions that were easy enough to focus on and channel.

L swallowed and said, "Perhaps you should start working your way up my legs. It would be a very pleasant sight to see the two of you get to work on my penis."

Misa moved as if to comply, but Light put out a hand, stopped her, and said, "Don't do it, Misa. He's not really consenting."

_Another test to find out whether I'm acting, or did Light already see through my act?_

L replied, "If you don't intend to suck my cock, then don't offer. You're teasing me as a psychological technique, aren't you?"

"No," Light said, "it's a genuine offer from both of us. Whenever you truly want it, we'll do it just as we said. You're lying to us, L. You're only saying 'yes' because you intend to lure us into making ourselves vulnerable, and then killing us."

"The shinigami would kill me if I tried, I would have mere seconds to complete both executions, and if I only managed to complete one, I would die while leaving the world in the hands of one significantly more deranged Kira. Misa after your death would be completely insane, and you without Misa would be less tempered by restraint. You've seen my physical abilities during our fights. Do you think I'm capable of it?"

_He does not know that I held back, that I could have given him a broken nose or snapped his neck with a kick._

Light said, "You're not fast enough, but you are strong enough if you use the right techniques, and I know you would be willing to take the risk. You've nearly sacrificed your life many times already to win the case, and you can't stomach losing."

"That may be true, but both of us know that someone of your intelligence is capable of restraining me well enough. With this particular arrangement of restraints, it is impossible for me to strike at anyone performing oral sex on me."

"My safety isn't the issue. I'm concerned about you, L. It's a terrible thing to be taken against your will. If we proceeded, it would hurt the friendly feelings we have between us. We won't do anything more than suck your feet until I believe you've genuinely given us permission."

_Either way, it's still only about what Light wants. He worries that trauma might make me less pliable, not that trauma would genuinely harm me._

L sighed and said, "So the answer is no?"

"You're correct."

L turned his head to the side and said, "Then, go away, and stop tormenting me."

Light smirked and said, "We'll go away now, but we'll return to torment you with shows on a regular basis."

Misa giggled and said, "I know you liked watching it," as she hopped about, quickly and agilely picking up her clothes and Light's.

When they left, that was when Rem entered, using the door for once instead of the wall. L could easily see why. She was carrying a padded metal collar in the same style as his wrist and ankle cuffs, and a long chain. He gazed at the device curiously, still keyed-up from the new information. His brain was processing it all very heavily, making him yearn for a large dose of sugar. The feeling of their mouths still lingered on his toes.

Rem drifted close, and then did something very odd to the collar, putting her fingers inside it, twisting. Suddenly it snapped open.

_Interesting._

"Rem, is that why my cuffs have no keyholes? The locking mechanism can only be worked by a being who can phase through solid surfaces?"

"Yes, this is true. This feature is to prevent you from being likely to pick the locks. Light designed your restraints himself."

_It's a brilliant design. If Light had left any keyholes, I would have chewed off part of a fingernail and used it to pick my locks. This way, I would need to access a file or bolt-cutters or a shinigami to get loose._

Rem slipped the two halves of the collar around L's neck, did something inside the collar again, and then with a series of loud clicks it was suddenly solidly in place. L watched Rem curiously while she went around to each wrist cuff and ankle cuff and in a similar way unfastened them.

L jumped up the instant he was free and ran for the door, but Rem easily paced him, holding the other end of the chain attached to his collar. Just when he reached the doorway, she looped a long arm around his chest and stopped him.

"It would not work," she said, "and the door is locked anyway. I only stopped you this with this method because I did not want you to abruptly reach the end of your leash and harm yourself. Remember, self-harm is punishable by taking away all your privileges of moving."

She let go and L tried the door, finding it firmly locked. He grabbed at the padding, wondering if he could tear off a little for later use without Rem noticing, but it was quite strong cloth to his tugs, Rem saw everything, and there was no plan that could be used with torn cloth that wouldn't work better with loose chains.

_And my chains will be loose from time to time as long as I don't rebel too strongly. I must choose my battles wisely._

L heard a click on the other wall, and stepped back from his inspection of the door to see that Rem had lifted a small section of padding on one wall, revealing a metal ring, to which his chain was now clipped.

Rem said, "You are to exercise for one hour, or until you say you are done. Then we will go to the shower and they will launder the cloth you've been laying on, and install your television. They believe you can do no harm by watching the news, or any other television programs."

_I wonder if Light is ambitious enough to create fake news solely for my benefit, or if there is truly no information known to the media that he fears I might obtain._

L said, "There is a second shinigami present, isn't there?"

Rem froze for a moment, but said nothing.

"Then, there _is_ another shinigami, but you have been instructed not to give me any information unless Light has personally approved it. Hmmm - have you thought about my offer any more?"

Rem flatly replied, "Your offer is irrelevant."

L said, "Something has changed, then. You had been tempted at every mention so far, but now there is not a hint of interest."

"They say that if you do not jog back and forth, you will be at risk for developing bed sores. If you remain uncooperative, I will tell them, and there will be consequences. They could also be watching at this moment."

L turned and jogged the length of the room, a semi-circle as far as his chain would allow, then turned and jogged back. Rem watched, seemingly satisfied. L continued the pattern, noting that his leash was not long enough to reach to the far wall.

_That is undoubtedly where they will install my television, well out of my reach even on this chain, so that I have no hope of smashing it to obtain broken glass or other weapons._

L thought hard as he jogged. There was not much that was possible at present, except for trying to find out useful information. For that, Rem was still the best target, seemingly more vulnerable to trickery than either Light or Misa. No new options had opened up.

He started quizzing her as he jogged, but the shinigami rarely said anything in answer, and she said nothing at all that was useful. A few times, Rem even slipped through a wall and was briefly absent, and on the last time she did that, she returned with a different expression on her face, not quite as bored but perhaps a bit upset, and said, "It is time for your shower. This time I will hold your leash, human, but if there is any trouble, next time I will simply pick you up and carry you."

She moved to the wall and unhooked the chain, by reaching into the wall to release some hidden mechanism there that caused the metal loop to snap open. L moved to the door as Rem moved forward, but he was not able to find any way to open it from the inside, and Rem simply reached through the door itself to unlock it from the other side.

They exited into a long hallway, very plain except for wood paneling and periodic doors. At one end a bend obscured the rest, and at the opposite end there was a secure-looking large metal door with a keypad next to it. Through a tiny window on that door, L could see what appeared to be a stairwell.

None of the other doors had windows, and all of those were identical.

He asked, "Are the others being held captive in those rooms?"

Rem didn't answer, but only tugged him forward with his chain, and her strength was impossible to resist. L screamed as loudly as he could, a piercing shriek. Rem jumped in response, and then simply stared and waited.

When he'd finished, she said, "All of the rooms are sound-proof. Your noise does not have any purpose, and it is irritating."

As he followed her, he listened carefully for any answering noise, but all was silent. At almost the end of the hallway, nearly to that mysterious stairwell, Rem open a door that looked like the rest, revealing a large room for showering. She pulled him inside, locked the door, and then fastened the end of his chain to a metal loop in the wall, another one that would only snap open in response to some mechanism inside the wall that Rem triggered.

The walls and floor were all the same plain tile. There was no furniture or objects in the room, only some waist-height railings to hold onto, air vents in the wall near the floor, a drain, and various nozzles far up by the ceiling, too far to be within jumping or chain-flicking range, but only some of the nozzles looked like shower heads.

Rem said, "All of this is voice-operated. The commands are 'water on', 'water off', 'warmer', 'cooler', 'soap', 'shampoo' and 'blow dry'."

L said, "I will not be allowed a wash cloth?"

"No, you will not."

_Light is still thinking of nearly everything. It will be incredibly difficult to escape with the resources he has allowed, and, even then, the shinigami and Misa should both know my name. It is looking as if the only way to end the Kira case is for the three of us to die together._

L tested the arrangement of showering devices and found that it all worked fairly well, except for the difficulty of catching a squirt of liquid soap or shampoo dropped from such a height. It was a long, hot shower with lots of stretching, indulging himself in the movements he knew would be restricted later, working out as many of the aches as he could. It gave him a refreshed, clean feeling. He stretched out the shower as long as possible, surreptitiously keeping an eye on Rem to see whether she might be inattentive at any point. She never left, but she did show signs that she wasn't giving her full attention at all times.

When Rem began gazing at the ceiling, L slowly and naturally meandered into a position where he was facing a corner.

_If I can masturbate, I will know that I might be able to launch a plan that includes concealing something useful in my rectum and then removing it during a shower. In any case, if I'm successful, this will decrease some of the frustrations that Light wishes to magnify. Alternatively, if I'm caught and forbidden, it will make it more likely that Light will accept my sexual demands as genuine._

Leaning his face into the corner, letting the delightfully warm water sluice down his back, L began touching himself. It was not easy to get erect, knowing that an inhuman monster - a female inhuman monster, at that - was lurking in the same room, not too far behind, but L closed his eyes and tried to put the present environment completely out of his mind, and he felt himself gradually hardening under the familiar strokes.

He pictured various women touching him and stroking him, though at times the images flickered and instead of generic beauties he saw Misa in particular, or that vivid memory of Misa and Light, fucking just out of his reach. And once, he saw Light going down on him, sucking hard, but he banished that vision almost instantly.

Before he could proceed past the initial stages of arousal, he heard Rem's voice say, "What are you doing?"

He stopped, holding his hands in the same area, hopefully hidden in the pocket formed by his body being jammed into the corner, and said, "I'm cleaning my genitals. Humans are shy about these things."

To his shock, he felt gigantic shinigami hands on his shoulders, lifting his entire body up and spinning him around. His partial erection bobbed into view and he tried to conceal it by drawing up his legs fast, but Rem grabbed one leg and pulled it out straight, making that action futile.

Rem said, "You were masturbating. That is against orders, and will not be allowed."

His erection was fading fast.

He said, "It was only a bit of cleaning. It sometimes has that effect."

"I have my orders. You will not masturbate. For just this much, they will probably not give you sweets for days."

That provoked a sharp intake of breath, before reality asserted itself.

_If I am to die for this case, going without sweets is a much lesser sacrifice._

L changed tactics and put a mournful expression on his face. Making his voice tone pitiful, he said, "Humans need to do this. I am willing to take the punishment. Please, just let me touch myself without watching. It will be over soon, I promise."

"It is over. You are done with your shower. You will blow-dry yourself from these vents and, when you are dry, we will return."

He gave in, doing as Rem asked. There was a kind of heaviness between his legs from the unfinished business, but he was determined to ignore it. His thick hair took quite some time to dry, as it always did, while he squatted in front of the blasting hot air and fluffed it with his fingers to speed the drying.

When they returned to his room, there was an addition, just where he'd suspected it would be, the television. It was built into a new recess in the wall, behind a thick grill, like prison televisions that were designed to be unreachable by inmates. Light was standing next to it, in a clean, neat suit.

Light said, "Hello, L. Did you enjoy your shower? I see that you almost enjoyed it very much, but Rem followed orders quite well."

L eyed Rem and the chain, judging the distance but concluding that it was impossible to hurt Light and, even if it were possible, would only make further advances less believable.

L replied, "I did enjoy it, but I wish you would allow me wash cloths, towels and a blanket. Some privacy would be appreciated as well."

"If I gave you privacy, you would masturbate, and we can't allow that. Masturbation allows you to relieve your tension and therefore ignore your true feelings."

"You'll suck on my toes, but you won't even kiss me. That hurts my feelings, Light."

"Oh, L! You're so cute when you pretend that you know how to interact socially."

L said, "I'm serious. Kiss me, Light. It's not polite to chain me to the floor, suck on my feet, offer me sexual services, withdraw those offers, and then refuse to at least kiss me."

Without any change in expression, Light said, "Rem, get him chained to the floor in the usual position. Then hold his head down so I can kiss without him trying to knock out a tooth."

Rem busied herself with the motions, and L complied. It was a bit terrifying to have all movement so restricted again, arms and legs spread wide by chains, but L kept his face as blank as he could. When Rem's hands were firmly wrapped around each side of his head, making a sharp upward head-butt impossible, Light approached. L could tell Light had an erection, and he tried to think thoughts to give himself one as well, but only succeeded in a partial.

Light climbed on top, straddling L's stomach and leaning down. L formed his lips into a pucker and tried not to let his inexperience show. Sex was something that happened with various people from time to time, but kissing, almost never.

It was a little bit confusing and overwhelming as their lips met. Light's were drier than L had expected, gentle, and yet he could feel the tiny muscles moving within them as Light took control of the kiss, turning it somewhat aggressive, but there was no tongue. L didn't know how he might react to tongue. Perhaps he would bite it, despite everything, so it was probably for the best.

Light broke the kiss and ran a finger gently down the side of L's face, saying, "You are very good at pretending you don't want me. It's rather complicated with you. Here you are, pretending to yourself that you don't want me, while you pretend to me that you do want me, for the purpose of getting me into a position where you think you might kill me."

_Both of us always see through each other, but we may as well keep playing. It is possible to win when the enemy can see all your cards._

L said, "Light, I very honestly would enjoy the sight and the feeling of Kira sucking my cock. It would be a kind of victory, don't you think?"

"What I think," Light said, "is that you also want to fuck Misa, but you are more honest to yourself about those desires, because you do not see Misa as a serious threat. Kira is dangerous to L. Does danger turn you on?"

"Yes," L said, putting as much arousal into his voice as seemed believable.

Light leaned close and said, "You're a liar, L, but you're a very cute liar, and you sometimes tell the truth by accident."

There was a slight, almost-chaste kiss on the cheek then, and after that Light withdrew entirely, Rem letting go as Light walked away.

Light looked back over his shoulder just before he exited the room and said, "Enjoy your blue balls, L. I expect it will be a long time until you truly consent."

Rem said, "Your television is also voice-activated," and then left through a wall.

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

Light and Misa are tremendous teases in this chapter. It's very difficult to have true consent when there's a very large power imbalance, but Light is struggling through. Knowing him, though, the whole process is probably at least halfway about gloating over an aroused and helpless L.


	4. Confused

**CHAPTER 3: Confused**

As soon as he was alone, L tested the television, feeling a strange kind of shaky relief deep inside at finally having access to something at least slightly resembling his normal levels of stimulation. It wasn't as good as the usual situation of working cases and being able to move around independently and having Watari available to immediately provide for every food craving, but it was great compared to the former monotony.

He checked the news first of all, for any possible clues on what Kira had been doing lately, and found that the deaths of criminals had become very sporadic. They hadn't ceased altogether, but the few that did happen were rather spectacular controlled actions ending in Kira's signature heart attack to leave no doubt as to the cause.

Such actions had prevented the ordinary spike in crime levels that had occurred before whenever Kira seemed to have stopped operating. The entire world was wondering what Kira was planning next.

But, still, it was very few criminals altogether. Surely Light couldn't be so busy that he would neglect his obsession quite so much.

_It is almost as if Light wishes to cease being Kira, but he doesn't want the world to react as if Kira is gone or vastly scaled-back, so he makes every kill truly count. Is that the correct interpretation?_

_Perhaps not. It would be extremely unlikely for Light to give up an obsession that he is so deeply invested in._

Sugar cravings hit L hard as he continued to scan the news on every channel, in the course of doing so discovering that there were quite a few channels from all around the world, including some very high-quality porn channels. He wanted access to his normal amounts of sweets, a comfortable chair to curl up in, the ability to nibble on a finger, to sip coffee and let his mind wander properly. Deducing in these conditions was simply barbaric.

They had been giving him meals that were considerably healthier than his usual fare. Desert was always present - it simply wasn't the majority any more. He'd said nothing about this, and was resolved that the issue would never be mentioned. Begging for more sweets would give them leverage, and that was unacceptable.

The next time Light and Misa showed up, L began asking about his name. Just in case, he didn't let even a hint of what it truly was slip out. He simply asked repeatedly, and in return they simply smiled their sly smiles and refused to answer the question. It gave him a little hope, that they somehow might not know. Still, unless Rem was entirely lying about how shinigami eyes worked, information that was mostly confirmed by what happened with Higuchi, then Rem at least should know even if Misa had somehow lost the power and Rem was somehow unwilling or unable to tell.

Rem was silent on the issue.

They woke him up later on, during the first deep sleep he'd had in a long time, in order to fuck beside him again. It played out almost exactly like the first instance, complete with offers of a consequence-free blow job and a very crude display of sucking his feet.

Despite every plan he made and every trick he tried, his life was falling into a powerless routine. Except for the television, there was little to do except think, and to have bodily needs attended to, and to watch Light and Misa fuck furiously, relentlessly, as if they were trying to prove something.

There was no contact with anyone else, not with the other captives who were supposedly also there but never seen, not with the hypothetical second shinigami. L even managed to leave nearly invisible surreptitious messages on the tile wall of the shower in soap-film for Watari, but there was never any answering message. Probably Light had noticed and made sure the walls were scrubbed between showers.

There was very little new information obtained by questioning Light, Misa and Rem. The media continued to tell the same sorts of baffling stories about Kira, with occasional starts and stops of the killings, highly erratic. Perhaps Kira was trying to be particularly unpredictable in order to throw a new enemy off his trail.

It was a terrifying and numbing routine to fall into, weeks continuing to go by according to the dates mentioned on the news. Light's injury continued to heal, the stitches disappearing and the edges of the former wound becoming less apparent, until nothing was left but a very thin pink line, only visible at some angles and distances. Though it was small and unobtrusive, there was something very satisfying about having given Kira a scar.

L did feel healthier. Bored and healthy. He slept for long hours each day, exercised, mentally worked on myriad plans, scoured the news for additional clues, did his best to pry more information out of the two Kiras and the shinigami, and yet little happened. His growing frustration seemed to result in bizarre dreams.

Some of the dreams were even about Light and Misa, the annoying and intrusive presence of the two rutting bodies becoming an ingrained feature of L's dreamscape. In that inhibition-free world, he broke free of his chains to touch their bodies as they had sex, placing his hands right where the furious movements happened, feeling the sensitive, swollen tissue there, Light's penis disappearing into her vagina over and over again, everything slick and well-lubricated.

Once, he even climaxed from the scene, pushing them both down, crushing their bodies as he wrapped the chain around and around them, trying to suffocate them but somehow, through the perversions of dream-logic, they were breathing and fucking and breathing and fucking just fine, no matter how tightly he twisted the chains, leaving blood and red welts on their bodies.

He pronounced them both guilty of Kira's murders and furiously masturbated over their bodies, splattering their surprised, up-turned faces with his ejaculate and waking to feel the oozing puddle on his belly, the only time in his captivity he managed to get sexual release through dreams and it was due to them, the two serial killers. It was extremely annoying that some anonymous dream-beauty hadn't brought him to orgasm instead.

Light soon appeared with Rem in tow, smirking and offering to send L to the shower, which L accepted, shrugging it all off under the warm water as a result of frustration and the quite deliberate implanting of ideas and images according to certain easily-deduced details of Light's plan.

Light's plan overall was still a mystery, but, with some horror, L began to consider that perhaps the plan was very long-term. There was no torture, no enforced solitude, no drugs, almost none of the things L had expected, but perhaps those things were not needed.

There was a very good way to convert anyone to a particular viewpoint, and it required a great deal of time to work. That way was to imprison a person without any serious mistreatment, offer companionship and kindness, and let the passage of years result in a compliant, devoted follower. It was sickening to think of the possibility.

All along, L had expected one of his many ongoing schemes to result in a break of some sort, but when the routines abruptly changed, it wasn't because of anything he'd done. Or, at least, if there were a connection, it wasn't one he could figure out.

It started when the door opened and Rem entered, holding a nude, struggling and terrified-looking Light, with Misa trailing a short distance behind. L lifted his head from the floor as far as he could to stare, and said the voice-activation word to turn off his television.

Instead of turning off, the screen suddenly showed a bunch of different viewpoints, of cells nearly identical to his own and holding prisoners in various states of dress or undress: Soichiro, Matsuda, Mogi and Aizawa. The persons L was most concerned with, Watari, Wedy and Aiber, were missing.

Just as Light had claimed, Matsuda was the only one with all his clothing, and he had merely a neck-collar to chain him to the wall on a long leash. Some of the rest had leashes, some were spread-eagled on the floor, and all had less clothing than Matsuda, right down to complete nudity. The amount of freedom they had was organized quite precisely according to each one's intelligence.

Light screamed, and everyone on the screen jumped, looking into their respective cameras.

"Can you hear me?" L called out.

The answers came from the screen:

"Yes!"

"I'm here."

"Is that you, Ryuzaki?"

"What's happening?"

_They obviously can't see me yet._

Light said, "Ryuzaki, Dad! Everyone! Help me! Something has me here!"

Everyone on the screen reacted with tenseness and confusion to Light's voice, just a few cut-off mutterings but mostly stares and silence.

_This is all according to Light's plan? Or is this an unexpected glitch? He could be merely pretending to lose his memories again._

Rem arrived next to L's body and roughly wrestled Light to the floor. When she had him pinned, she unfastened one of L's wrist cuffs and put it on Light's wrist, then did the same with one of L's ankle cuffs. She left the two of them chained side by side, each with only one arm and one leg restrained.

L said, "Misa, what is the meaning of this?" as he stretched his free arm and free leg, wriggling to get out the muscle kinks.

Misa smiled and said, "Light will be here with you for a while, L. It won't be long. I'll give you some chain, but if you hurt him, something very bad will happen to you."

_This could be a test of my trust, to determine how compliant I am becoming. I am also being allowed communication with the other prisoners for the first time, so perhaps the purpose is to test whether I'll try to create escape plans._

Light whimpered and pulled at his cuffed wrist and ankle. The shoulder on the free side of his body rubbed against the shoulder on the free side of L's body, uncomfortably close. Light's gaze didn't connect with Rem's form at all as she retreated from the room alongside Misa.

_It is possible that he neither sees nor remembers Rem._

L said, "Light, do you know what is happening?"

"I don't know! I'm sorry I imprisoned you here. Something was wrong with me at the time! We've got to get out of here!"

The chains loosened, more links exiting from the floor. Soon, L was able to sit up. There wasn't much space beside Light, who had been similarly loosened.

The moment the chains stopped, everyone on the monitor looked more alert and several said, "Ryuzaki!" at almost exactly the same moment.

L said, "Do all of you see me? Describe the scene you observe."

They all answered in the affirmative and gave fairly good descriptions. Soichiro was red-faced and ashamed, eyes downcast.

L said, "Now, in order to prove beyond a doubt that this footage I am seeing was not pre-recorded or tampered with, I want each of you to repeat a unique phrase I will give you."

L went through each of the four on the screen one by one, confirming them all as live video feeds while Light watched, looking very overwhelmed, his eyes wide and sad.

Right at the end, Light had an outburst of, "Dad! I'm not Kira! I know it seems as if I am, but... Kira is controlling my mind or something. I can't remember why I imprisoned everyone here. You have to believe me!"

There was a pathetic edge of desperation in Light's voice.

Aizawa shrugged his entire body and said, "After everything Light has said and done, we can't believe him now."

Soichiro looked up and in a fierce voice said, "We must prevail against Kira but.. it is still possible my son is innocent. Perhaps the real Kira is some kind of brain parasite, or the real Kira is the shinigami."

Light shivered and said, "This nonsense again? A shinigami?"

The expression of skepticism and incredulity on Light's face was quite genuine-looking.

_This may be nothing more than a test of my loyalty, but there are opportunities here that are too good to waste. I will almost certainly have to attempt Light's execution soon._

L said, "Has anyone seen Watari, Wedy or Aiber? I would like to confirm if they are alive or not."

There was a chorus of denials from everyone except Matsuda.

Matsuda said, "They showed Wedy to me, in person, not on a screen. She's asleep in a hospital bed and she's got many machines hooked up to her. She's two floors down from me, and you have to go through three high-security doors with retina scanners to get there. I haven't seen Watari or Aiber, sorry!"

"Thank you, Matsuda. Now, all of you, I want to ask a question. Has Light or Misa been making sexual advances towards any of the rest of you?"

Soichiro sputtered, Aizawa and Matsuda both gasped, and Mogi simply had his jaw drop open for a few moments.

L asked, "Yes or no? This is important."

One by one, they all said, "No."

"Then it's just me," L said, "unless one of you is lying from shame. If you are, please do give us a full report. This knowledge could be important for the investigation."

Light placed his head in his hands and groaned.

L said, "Light, is that why Misa locked us here together? She wants to see if we'll indulge in sexual play with each other? We are close enough that it would not be difficult to do something."

Light said, "That's disgusting," and moved away as well as he could, which wasn't much, considering his short chains. Under his breath, so low that perhaps the microphones wouldn't pick it up, Light added, "Not while everyone is watching."

L said, "Light, what did you do to Naomi Misora?"

"I... I only," Light looked away, obviously distressed. His facial expression was far more realistic than it had been at certain previous times when he had definitely been acting, showing a raw openness that L hadn't seen since that night in the helicopter.

Light added, in a whisper, "I only talked to her for a time, I didn't do anything."

L said, "Did she tell you her name?"

Light hesitated, then his face went red, he closed his eyes, and said, "Yes. But I don't know how Kira kills. I didn't murder her."

"Yet you concealed this meeting between you and her from the investigation team until this moment."

Light said, "I knew I was innocent, and if I'd said anything, it only would have caused things to become difficult again! I wanted to catch Kira, and if I had told you, you might have kicked me off the team, or misdirected too much of your energy towards investigating me."

"You know that Higuchi was not the original Kira; you know the Kira who killed before you were first imprisoned had a completely different pattern than Higuchi. Who do you think is the original Kira?"

Light shifted where he crouched as if seeking a better position, pulling on his short chain-lengths, looking uncomfortable, and biting his lip. His eyes were distant, thoughtful.

At last, he said, "Kira is almost certainly someone on the investigation team, since he uses knowledge that nobody else should have. Kira was definitely followed by Raye Penber and was seen by the second Kira at Aoyama. The facts all fit this, and it can only be me unless... unless Kira is someone who reads minds and control people without killing them."

"If Kira can read minds and control people without killing them, then many of Kira's actions make no sense. Kira should have chosen to use these powers in many different ways, ways that did not occur."

Light closed his eyes and quietly said, "I know."

"It does not matter. Light, there is no doubt in my mind that you are Kira; the original Kira."

Light stayed silent, but his face showed severe agitation.

L said, "Light, there is one last thing I must ask. You erased your memories today for a reason. I am certain of this fact; I do not believe that Misa or the shinigami did this against your will. Can you deduce the reason you erased your memories this time? It is very important."

In a voice tinged with anger, Light answered, "I'm not Kira! I don't care how it looks. I know I wouldn't do things like that. I especially wouldn't do them and then not remember."

"Make these assumptions for the sake of the case. Assume you were the original Kira. Assume that you can erase your memories at will and regain them later. Based on these ideas, what would your reasoning be for erasing your memories this time? Your answer is likely a life and death matter for the rest of us."

_Unless Light's deduction points us in a new direction, I must try to execute him as soon as he's finished thinking. Rem or Misa will kill me but... I might end Kira first._

Light sighed, rubbed the side of his face with his free hand, and stared off into space, thoughtful.

After a long time, Light suddenly said, "I have nothing. The only thing I can think of is, maybe this is a test of your loyalty, but I don't believe I would try something like this so soon. It's obvious you're still pretending, so... I don't know. If I am Kira, then Kira's reasoning about this memory erasure is a mystery."

_Then, any moment now, as soon as I think Rem or Misa might not be paying enough attention to act in time. _

_With this limited movement and these short chains, it would be considerably difficult to snap Light's neck. Strangling takes too long, unless nobody is watching. I could break his nose with the heel of my palm and quickly drive the broken bone into his brain, but... this is not a good position for that move._

_Light thought I might attack him and he arranged to make things difficult for me._

L stared. There was something about Light's wide, innocent-looking eyes that made a knot form in his stomach.

_It isn't easy to execute a criminal who has truly forgotten their crimes, but this is my last act, and my most important one. _

_Even if there is only a small chance of killing Kira, I must take it, and not allow too much time to pass. I may never get even one more halfway-decent opportunity, or I may only get an opportunity after my mind has truly degenerated._

L spun as well as he could in his crouch, hooking a heel behind one of Light's chains to jerk him closer. It was almost enough, but the angle was wrong and Light struggled, almost slipping free.

Everyone else was yelling.

There wasn't enough space for a nose-shot or for any neck breaking. Light had planned the exact chain-length well. L managed to get the tiniest bit of slack in the chain wrapped around Light's neck, Light's head in his lap. Light got half a breath before L pulled it tight, choking him.

"Don't!" Soichiro yelled, "He's my son!"

Guilt struck L all at once. His hand trembled, the chain becoming slick with sweat, slipping, Light taking a huge gasp. L moved to re-tighten the chain, trying to push away Light's furiously thrashing knees, Light's bony shoulders surging up.

Matsuda said, "Don't kill Light!"

Light stopped struggling and looked up with a helpless expression. All the strength drained out of L's arms. He pushed Light down, climbing on top, taking shaky breaths. The chains were tangled, digging in here and there but off of Light's neck, revealing a delicate pattern of red marks.

Light looked exhausted, beaten. His lip was starting to swell. Wet tears glittered in his eyes, unshed.

Between pants, Light said, "Is that... how you would... stop Kira?"

It was really a dreadful feeling, a kind of intense shame welling up from deep in L's gut, and he was angry at himself, furiously angry, for not being able to continue the job.

_Did Light plan this? Perhaps he evaluated my personality and knew that I would be unlikely to kill him in this situation, with innocence visible in his eyes and everyone watching and commenting on my actions._

L rested there, panting almost as hard as Light, his knees on either side of Light's stomach. Light suddenly blushed and looked at the wall, just as L felt something stiff hit barely above his tailbone.

L quietly said, "You have an erection, Light. It is pressing against my back."

Light didn't respond.

"What would you do," L said, "if I took it into my mouth? If I began to suck on it?"

Light barely breathed the words, "Not while everyone is looking at us. Please, don't do it."

The red chain-mark encircling Light's neck looked very pretty. L leaned down and licked the impressions softly, running his tongue along them, feeling every bit of texture. Light whimpered under the movements but didn't resist. Light's breathing was getting faster in response, and he was raising his chin, displaying the area for easier access.

L suddenly withdrew his lips and pinned Light's shoulders to the padded floor. Staring deeply into Light's eyes, he said, "What is all this about?"

"I don't know!"

"Why the sexual advances?"

Light hesitated, and then whispered, "Both of us like you. That's... that's all. There's nothing more. I promise I don't remember any more."

L wanted to punch him in the face, but instead he crawled the bare distance away that he could and huddled, thinking. It felt good to be able to sit with his knees up to his chest and a finger in his mouth.

In a few moments he felt Light's hand on his shoulder.

Light said, "I'll let you out. You and everyone else. I promise. Please help me."

"When whatever happens to you happens again, you won't."

"I'll fight Kira when he tries to take my mind again."

"When you realize you are Kira, you'll decide that if Light Yagami committed those murders, then they aren't really murders because Light Yagami isn't a murderer. Then you'll be back to Kira's thinking, and perhaps all of us will die. You disapprove of Kira unless Kira is yourself, and in that case you approve of him because you think you're perfect and above everyone else's morality."

The hand tightened on L's shoulder.

L sighed and said, "Light, listen to me. If this is the route you are determined to take, there is only one way to win against Kira. You _must_ acknowledge your own prior guilt to yourself. You _must_ be willing to reject Kira, even if Kira was really yourself all along. If you can fix this decision in your mind now and hold tight to it, you may have a chance. Save our lives. Reject Kira. Think hard now and commit yourself."

The television monitor went blank, and a second later the door swung open, revealing Misa and Rem. Misa stood there while Rem advanced.

L said, "Stay firm against Kira, Light. Your sanity is about to end, and, afterwards, your determination might be the only chance for all of us."

Light clung, grabbing L's closest arm, curling his body around. He looked scared and pathetic, but his eyes were on Misa, blankly looking right through Rem.

Light shouted, "Misa, what are you doing? Are you the real Kira? Ahhh-"

Rem pinned Light in that moment, untangling his body from L's own, and Light struggled hard against her as he was unchained and lifted up, even inflicting a few injuries on Rem that healed instantly.

"Light, you are Kira," L said, as he allowed Rem to re-cuff his free wrist and ankle. In the circumstances, fighting wouldn't do any good. It would perhaps even be harmful, distracting Light from the critical thinking he must do.

Rem carried Light away, as he struggled in her arms and yelled and at last even began cursing. The moment Light disappeared into the hallway, he suddenly let out the most alarming scream yet, a soul-wrenching sound. The scream echoed in through the open door, cut off suddenly as the door abruptly swung shut. It had sounded exactly like what had happened in the helicopter, that same sound of a mind wrenched and twisted.

L knew what had happened, though he wasn't quite sure how it had happened. Considering the events in the helicopter, the return of memories was probably triggered by touching the murderer's notebook, but that didn't explain how the memories were erased in the first place, or why numerous people could touch the cursed notebook without having their own memories affected.

There was certainly something more complex going on, but there wasn't enough information to allow the exact process to be deduced.

Tense, L watched the closed door, wondering if Light were undergoing an emotional crisis that would result in a discarding of the Kira plan and an accepting of the offered deal of non-prosecution in return.

It was unlikely, given Light's level of dedication, but it was possible, and every other good outcome was also a similarly risky proposition.

The inner conflict that must exist, given Light's vastly different stances on Kira's morality depending on whether he had his memories or not, was the only reason Light might choose to reject Kira. It was an excellent crack in Light's armor at which to pry. If the connected emotions ran deep enough, the situation could become quite unpredictable, and then unlikely outcomes would become far more likely.

It felt like a very long time, though it had probably only been a few minutes, when the door opened again, revealing Light alone. Light's face was completely different, the innocent look gone. He approached and then sat cross-legged, just out of reach. A necklace of bruises was just beginning to form.

L said, "Have you decided to give up Kira's tyranny? There are many ways in which we could set up a deal that neither of us could renege on, to leave you free to live a normal life as long as you never murder again."

"They aren't murders," Light said, "but soon, you will get your way a little bit. This will happen only because it was part of my plan all along."

"Part of your new plan that you made after deciding to imprison me, you mean."

Without any trace of irony in his voice, Light said, "The best plans are always adjustable. Mine never fail."

"Are you going to stop murdering people?"

Light said, "The Kira plan will be improved, until it reaches a state of absolute flawlessness. You will help with the details and perform management tasks, once you've decided to join our side."

_Completely unreasonable. He's been swallowed up by his delusions again. Perhaps, just perhaps, I've implanted enough self-doubt to someday lead him to a sane conclusion, but that's not happening yet._

L said, "I demand that you show me evidence that Aiber and Watari still live. I will become more cooperative if I know you haven't killed them."

"They have both been quite difficult prisoners, with numerous escape attempts. I'm afraid you can't be allowed any opportunity to conspire with them yet. It'll be over soon, L. Once everything is finished, we'll let you go and you can reunite with them if you wish."

"You're taking my deal, then?"

"No," Light said, "you'll be free without any deal in place. Right now, it's a countdown until we set you free."

He didn't know whether to believe Light or not. It was a ridiculous suggestion. L knew that he wasn't compliant enough for them to be comfortable with the risk, unless the Kiras were planning to both disappear completely, making themselves unfindable.

No, that shouldn't work well either. He couldn't imagine them enclosing themselves in some hidden underground bunker for life, and anything less would lead to eventual discovery. It probably was a psychological technique, a strategy to create the anticipation of freedom, nothing more.

An intensely ominous regret settled over L. Even though the chains had probably been too short and the watchers too vigilant to allow for an execution, he was furious that he hadn't managed to do his utmost to kill Light, resentful that feelings had managed to pull him back from an all-out effort.

He wanted to be free, to kick Light in the face, to feel Light's flesh bruising under his fists, to hold Light down and choke the life out of him.

Light said, "Do you want to just chat, or would you like to have a book read to you?"

L muttered, "It's back to this, then?"

"Yes," Light answered, "it's all been accomplished. Now, the only options left are how we spend our time waiting until we set you free."

The ominous feeling increased, along with a growing dread of failure. Perhaps, unless Light were simply making things up, failure had already occurred. L wanted to do something that would at least wipe that satisfied smirk off of Light's face.

_It is possible that neither Misa nor Rem are watching this moment, and Light would need to exit the room to operate the mechanism to tighten my chains._

L said, "Talk to me," stuck his thumb in his mouth, and turned over, curled up with his back to Light. It was enjoyable to have the chains loose, and as Light launched into a discussion of their college days together, L carefully made his breathing around his thumb normal as he allowed his free hand to wander between his legs.

_Light will not expect me to do this one-handed._

L stroked, hardening quickly. The long deprivation had made everything more responsive, more sensitive. He wanted to groan as he worked, he wanted to breathe heavily, but he held it all in as his hand worked busily, his excitement rising.

At exactly the wrong moment, the chains began moving again and his hand was yanked away.

Light said, "Good work, Misa."

L heard a desperate whimper and realized it was his own. The cruel chains forced him downward, pulling him into the usual position. He scowled at Light, then caught himself and stared at the wall instead.

A moment later Misa entered the room, nude. Light went to her and took her, fiercely, against the wall, making her cry out with each thrust. L didn't want to watch, but his eyes wouldn't look away the entire time. When they were finished, L groaned and cursed at them as they went to their usual after-activity of sucking on and massaging his feet while offering more but not accepting his permission.

After that, it was back to the usual routines, as if nothing surprising had happened. They took care of him, read to him, talked with him, and at a rate of nearly every night, Light and Misa continued to have sexual encounters just barely beyond the reach of his fingertips. They often ended sessions by sucking on his toes and licking his feet, and occasionally Rem held him completely immobile so one or the other could kiss him, but beyond that much, they continued to ignore his pleas for sexual release, no matter what tricks or strategies he used.

L had very strange emotions building up inside him, showing more displays of anger or frustration than he ever had in his life, and a kind of strange boredom that made something in him perk up every time one of them would visit him. He craved socializing with his captors in the same way he craved sugar, with a relentless ache and a feeling of withdrawal if too much time went by.

Still, they oddly did not seem to be exploiting any of the obvious weaknesses. It created a feeling of almost-trust, of being able to rely on them, and when L lay there late at night staring into the darkness, he could imagine that feeling growing stronger, until it would become strong enough that he would become compliant, bonded to his captors and dependent, harmless to them in any situation where he might otherwise have had the ability to arrest them.

L estimated that, given his level of resistance, the entire process would take two years, maybe three at most.

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

I picture L as someone who would be more resistant to Stockholm syndrome than the average person, but also as someone who would become bored very fast and then be somewhat a prey to his own mind.

The purpose of Light's trick won't be revealed until a later chapter, but, whatever it was, it certainly messed with L's mind, to be presented with a naked, vulnerable, innocent Light while everyone else watched and judged.


	5. Changed

**CHAPTER 4: Changed**

The next big step had been quite unexpected. L had truly believed that the talk of quick freedom was nonsense, a mere psychological technique, but then Light entered his room one day and announced, "L, this is the day. You'll be let loose soon, probably in just a few hours. Now you're going to be quiet for a while, while I explain things."

L stared at Light. He didn't know what to say. It seemed unbelievable, but the truth of the matter would become apparent before too long.

Light had a gag with him, a large rubber ball to fit between the teeth and straps to be tied behind the head. He brought it close and knelt down by L's head. Panic welled up inside L and he wanted to scream and curse, but he stayed silent.

"You're not going to be allowed to talk while you have this on," Light said as he forced the ball of rubber into L's mouth and then fastened the straps behind L's head. With the ball gag on, L could breathe noisily, and he could grunt, but he couldn't form any words.

_What is the point of this, other than humiliation? If anyone outside could hear what goes on inside this room, there would have been trouble for Light before this. It's a sound-proof room._

Light got closer than L expected him to get without Rem's assistance, putting his legs partially under L, pulling L's head right onto his lap. Light called out to Misa to let out a bit of slack, so L could twist around into a more comfortable position. The fabric of Light's trousers felt rough and almost overwhelming. To be touched this way, without being held immobile by Rem, was a tremendous shock. L breathed noisily and shifted in place nervously.

Light leaned over, and he was saying something, talking and talking. L had the feeling that it was all very complex and he struggled to pay attention. His breathing was getting much faster.

Light's words were pouring into L's mind, but he couldn't grasp them while they were there. They poured out again, going somewhere, and he couldn't remember what Light had said even moments before. L shivered. His entire body felt weak and strange. Sweat was starting up on his forehead and running into his eyes, and as that hypnotic voice droned on, his entire body was sweating and shivering, becoming drenched.

L didn't move a hand to wipe the sweat from his eyes, though the chains were by far slack enough to do it. An unwillingness to act pervaded his entire body, soaking in deeply.

_I am drugged? Or has my name been written? Or is it only the side effects of long captivity?_

Light's hand moved down and stroked L's face, brushing damp strands of hair away from L's eyes. L breathed around the ball gag. It sounded very loud to his ears. The shivering was turning into shaking, getting worse. L closed his eyes and couldn't tell if Light was still talking or not. The physical world felt very far away, imbued with a strange sense of disconnection.

Some time later he felt very cool fingers on his face. His eyes fluttered open and he focused slowly, seeing Light hovering over him. He felt Light removing the ball gag. L wanted to hit him but a strange lassitude had come over all his limbs. Instead he lay there, limp and breathing hard, watching Light leave and then return with Misa and Rem, bringing towels and a sponge and buckets of clean water and soapy water.

L could feel abnormal amounts of sweat all over his body, soaking him, dripping. It seemed good that they should wash him and get the grime away.

He closed his eyes and let them wash, not lifting a finger to help them, and not fighting them even though the chains were slack enough for that. The only time that even a few thoughts entered his mind was when they washed between his legs, and he felt the warmth of his growing arousal. He tried to picture the shinigami to shrink it, and it was then that he realized that either Light or Misa rubbing him there was a very interesting thought, far more interesting than it had been before.

The only one of the three he wasn't attracted to was Rem. His previous uncertainty about whether he was attracted to Light or not was completely gone.

The sponge soon went elsewhere and he tried to forget about it.

L was surprised when they finished cleaning and brought him a blanket. The softness of it as he pulled it over himself was gratifying, a wonderful fuzzy weight slipping over his skin. It had been too hard to be exposed all the time and he almost wanted to cry from the relief the blanket gave him.

Light leaned close over him and said, "This is only the start of what you'll be allowed. If you are good, there will be clothing again, and some freedom within this building. We'll give you freedom in steps and see how it goes."

Misa was settling in next to Light, cross-legged and with a book and a dish of ice cream. L eyed the ice cream but didn't feel hungry. He was exhausted, every muscle in his body profoundly weak. Even lifting one finger was an effort, and so he let them arrange his body as they wished, draped over Light's lap and with his head snuggled against Misa's hip, still covered in that wonderful, marvelous blanket.

"We're going to start this slowly," Light said, "and if there are any issues, we'll lock you up securely again for a little while."

_Start this? What is he going to start?_

Misa said, "There aren't any more problems. You're okay now, L. I know you're strong enough to get through this part."

L looked up at her. She opened the book and began reading. It was quite obviously a detective novel within the first few paragraphs. Their warm, clothed bodies felt nice against him. He stretched out, slipping an arm around Misa's waist. She didn't even pause in her reading.

L said, "What do I need to be strong for?"

Light stroked along L's hip on the outside of the blanket, a soothing motion, and said, "Don't worry about that part. It's important not to strain your mind right now. Let it be occupied by the book or by pleasant thoughts."

Misa paused her reading just long enough to say, "We adjusted our methods. We know you won't have a nervous breakdown like Matsuda did."

Light said, "Misa! There's no need to alarm L about things that won't happen to him."

Misa continued reading.

L's heart was suddenly beating fast.

L said, "How is Matsuda now?"

"He's fine," Light replied, "he's getting treatment and he's recovering quickly. The mistake we made with him won't happen with you. You're the most important one. That's why we left you to be the last, so we could perfect our methods first."

L wondered why he wasn't using the slack in his chains to try to strangle them both. They were well within reach. A terrible fear grew in his gut, clutching at him, suffocating him. He was all at once thrashing in their grasps and they were both clinging to him, pinning him down.

Light said, "L, stop it. Be calm and pay attention to the book."

Suddenly, all of L's fight evaporated and he let them push him into the same position as before, with his legs and hips draped across Light's lap and his head snuggled up against Misa's hip. Light stroked along L's side constantly as Misa read and ate the ice cream slowly. Each stroking movement calmed him more, and Misa's eating was hypnotic as well. Repeating patterns, cycles for the mind to latch on to. It was all good.

A sort of lassitude settled over L. He was nearly certain his name had to have been written, though there was also a small chance that all this was due to some drug or to the effects of long-term captivity.

He didn't really care.

Having contact with their bodies was soothing and fulfilling. L wanted to touch them more deeply. There was an underlying excitement, an anticipation of what might happen now that things were changing. The chains might go away entirely. He realized that he couldn't stand the thought that both Kiras might withdraw and leave him alone again, untouched, un-snuggled. The two of them were important anchors for his equilibrium.

He could feel an erection beginning to swell underneath his blanket, not too far from where Light's hand was stroking his hip, and he considered their earlier offers. His pent-up sexual needs were simply too much to ignore entirely. He knew he was going to masturbate furiously if they left him alone with the chains still slack, but there were certainly other options available.

L allowed his hand to trace the edge of Misa's miniskirt while his eyes watched the rise and fall of her chest just where the slight swells of her breasts were mostly contained by her top, just a bit of their soft skin visible above the lace border. She smiled slightly as she continued reading.

L let his fingers creep just inside her skirt, tracing her thigh, and this movement did make her words falter a bit and her breath speed up. He wanted to tear off her top and run his tongue across each nipple. The hardness between his legs was rapidly becoming unbearable and he felt strangely obscene and eroticized this way, being completely naked except for a blanket and chains.

He ventured a bit deeper under her short skirt, twisting his body more into her lap to reach better, his erection surely becoming apparent to Light with the movement. There were panties this time and he traced their lacy contours with the tips of his fingers, shivering, wanting.

The reading stopped.

Misa smiled a deliciously evil smile and said, "What do you want, L?"

L said, "I want to... to lick ice cream off of your tits."

She wasn't objecting at all, and he was slithering further into her lap, his breaths coming fast, the metal cuffs cold around his wrists and ankles, tipping her backwards onto her back and doing just as he'd imagined, ripping her top down with a groan as he saw those breasts spring free and he needed, needed.

He dumped the dish of half-melted ice cream across her tits, watching her shiver in the cold and seeing goose bumps spring up, watching the scoops slither in different directions, one sliding away and dropping to the quilted floor, another settling just between her breasts and he licked it, savoring it, drawing the scoop partway into his mouth, controlling its movements.

The melted portion smeared her entire chest and he rooted around, slipping his mouth away from the scoop to lick it, tasting the slight salt of skin and working up gradually to one nipple, watching her face get more intense as he slowly, slowly neared it. Teasing Misa was difficult. He wanted to sink his stiff rod into the warmth between her legs with no wait, to rut furiously until his climax overtook him. But it was better this way, to watch her responses, to make things much sweeter.

He hooked two fingers through the crotch of her panties and yanked them down, letting his hand return to fondle the moist folds, open to the air of the room. He could feel the blanket slipping mostly off of him and Light pressing up from behind, a warm weight draped across his hindquarters.

L took Misa's nipple into his mouth and made her gasp, sucking harshly. At the same time, his fingers began venturing inside and they moved back and forth in the slickness as his dick ached to be there instead. Misa was getting wetter fast, her inner muscles clenching on him. He felt Light's cold, ice-cream-slickened hands slipping underneath his torso, one cupping his balls and the other curling around his engorged, dripping penis.

Everything there was enormously tight and heavy, responding instantly to Light's slight movements.

L groaned and dropped his head to between Misa's spread legs, pushing up her mini-skirt entirely and taking that nub at the top of her folds between his lips, sucking gently and then massaging it with long licks as his fingers continued working inside.

It was only a few licks until she arched her back and gasped out an orgasm, twitching underneath his tongue and around his fingers. He could barely stand another moment.

L said, "I'm... I'm going in, Misa."

The husky tone of his voice surprised him.

And then one word stopped him, as Misa said, "No."

From behind, Light said, "We're still open to making the same deal with you. You can have exactly as much penetration as you get. If you let me inside you, then you can penetrate Misa."

"Earlier, you both offered me a blow job with no conditions at all."

Light said, "That was while you were still chained."

L used his wrist to rattle a chain as he said, "In case you haven't noticed, Light."

"You'll be off the chain today," Light said softly.

L's penis throbbed, chilled and stimulated but not enough. Light's hand curled around but was mostly slow, simply not up to L's needs.

L lowered his face to between Misa's legs and breathed hotly directly on her clitoris, making her shiver.

"Please!" he said.

He hated to beg. His entire being rebelled against it as soon as he'd said it. Yet, there was something about them that made him crave, made him beg, and it wasn't the scheme of killing them any more. That old scheme simply didn't matter. Every touch of their bodies was immensely gratifying and he wanted more. It was unthinkable to be without them.

L collected his thoughts and said, "It's been over three months. You made me miss Christmas, and Misa's twentieth birthday. You owe me something better than this... tease."

"Well, I wanted to bring you presents and cake," Misa said, "but Light told me you'd use them as weapons or to escape and hurt yourself."

L ventured to say, "And why, exactly, aren't you afraid I'll hurt myself at the present time?"

Misa said, "Silly! You wouldn't do that now."

Light grabbed an additional bit of ice cream as he said, "To make it up to you, L, we'll have an extra-big celebration for my nineteenth birthday in a few weeks."

The ice cream was brought underneath L's body, and its cold substance was smeared all over his cock in torturous strokes, making him gasp in pleasure and discomfort. He almost forgot the questions lingering in his mind, but that was fine. He really didn't want to deal with them yet. It was more pleasant to be in the present moment with Light and Misa. L let out an involuntary whine, his urges almost unbearable, pleasure and frustration mixed together.

L heard the sound of a wrapper behind him and swiftly turned his head, expecting to see a condom, but instead saw Light unwrapping a small lollipop and popping it into his mouth.

Light sucked and licked, his lips and tongue moving sensuously, and L wanted to feel that mouth on him, manipulating his most sensitive parts.

With a popping sound, Light removed it and then said, "This looks wet enough. Don't worry; it's small. Now, don't move."

L closed his eyes and rested his forehead on Misa's thigh, unsure of why he was obeying. With one of Light's hands still cradling L's penis, the other hand was suddenly slipping between L's ass cheeks, the wet lollipop brushing up against his sphincter and causing it to tighten as it brushed along the outside once, twice, three times, and then suddenly plunged in smoothly and wetly.

L was instantly overwhelmed with a number of sensations and thoughts at once, as Light began to swirl the treat in place and tug gently on the stick. It was strange and intruding, a feeling of 'things shouldn't go there' and yet it was also arousing, immensely stimulating, sending a jolt directly to his cock and making it more erect that ever, hard and sensitive in Light's grip. L clutched Misa's leg and whimpered, unsure of whether he wanted to start snapping his hips in rhythm to get the most from Light's movements, or whether he wanted to force the lollipop out of his body entirely.

"I promise you'll like it," Light said, "when I fuck you. It will feel even better than this lollipop."

L said, "I haven't agreed to your penis being inside me."

"That's your final answer, then?"

"Yes. It is."

The lollipop was withdrawn with a wet noise, and L immediately missed it. It had felt good. His asshole tingled, wanting more.

Both Light and Misa slipped away, getting to their feet.

_They really might leave! _

Panic constricted L's chest.

"Don't go. Please don't go. Please!"

_I'm pathetic to beg this way._

He grabbed onto Light's retreating foot and his emotional stability returned, the panic mostly subsiding. He wanted to be touched and cuddled and fucked. His entire body shivered, and the thought that they might go away still lurked in his mind, a horrible possibility.

But just spreading his cheeks for Light immediately was still not something he was willing to do.

L said, "Aren't we friends? Both of you lied to me. You constantly offered me a blow job and now you're refusing to fulfill your obligation."

Misa said, "That's right, Light! We owe it to him."

"Well, he's covered with dried ice cream now. We'll need to clean him up again."

And then Light called in Rem to help, and unlocked all four cuffs. L wiggled his hands and feet, squirming on the quilted floor before suddenly springing up eagerly, and then crowding close to Light and Misa to get the skin contact he craved so much. Their bodies were warm and comforting.

They pulled at him, and he was docile, letting them lead him by the hand with no resistance. His erection bobbed furiously as he walked, each motion an agony of pleasure, of wanting. It was a great heaviness between his legs that needed to be released. He barely noticed that Light and Misa were shedding their remaining clothing rapidly, leaving it in a trail to be picked up later.

He felt almost in a daze of pleasure as they pushed him to the showering room and stationed him under a water nozzle. The spray of warm water washed down his body as their bare, slippery skin pressed all around him, sliding and rubbing and wriggling, and they'd picked up wash cloths somewhere he hadn't noticed and they were vigorously scrubbing every bit of the food mess away, rubbing until his skin was pink, and he leaned into every immensely soothing touch.

Before L's mind had quite registered that the cleaning part was over, the two nude beauties had dropped to their knees in front of him, four hands sliding around his intimate parts, and two mouths, taking turns in a complex ballet consisting of alternating between sucking on the swollen tip, long licks starting at the base, and slurping open-mouthed kisses along the side.

There were railings to brace himself against, and he clung furiously to them, almost too aroused to stand on his weak and wobbly legs. He was sobbing in relief, as the world narrowed down to nothing except those two mouths working relentlessly on him and the building pressure in his groin.

He wanted to cry out, "Don't stop! Don't stop!" but his throat was closed up from all the humiliating begging he'd already done. Besides, there was the unbearable thought that any outburst like that might spur them to stop, that this entire sex act might be just another tease.

Every lick brought him closer. He closed his eyes and whimpered and the mouths only worked more relentlessly in response, so warm and wet and with increasing pressure and he wasn't quite aware of Light and Misa as people anymore, but only as a series of hands and mouths that gave him exactly what he craved, helping him, rewarding him.

Someone put a finger inside him, curling it just so, and he suddenly exploded in a trembling peak of ecstasy, opening his eyes to see his dick pop free of Misa's mouth and the semen squirting over both of them. The finger inside twisted and the next squirt was more, with a new intense pressure that made him let out a little growl. His legs were shaking as he released.

He panted hard and became aware of the railings in his hands, and Light helping to support his weight, as the last spurt weakly dribbled out, his climax spent.

It was beautiful, the white splatters evenly sprinkled across both their upturned faces. The sight was incredibly erotic, with Light and Misa soaked and naked and on their knees, Light's hair slickly plastered to his scalp, Misa's wet hair clinging in long strands to the edges of her face, her shoulders, and her neck. Both of them were panting almost as much as L himself was. They were just outside the spray of water, so the semen stayed where it had landed or oozed downward just slowly.

Light pulled a finger out of L's ass. L started laughing. He was shaking and laughing, and he didn't think he could stop. They were both supporting his slumping body, his feet almost dragging on the floor as he stumbled along, trying to keep up with them. They dragged him through the warm spray again and out the other side, then patted him down with towels as he sprawled on the floor, laughing still, lazy-feeling and relaxed and yet the shaking wouldn't go away.

A sudden very sober feeling came across him and his laughter stopped. He grabbed Light's shoulders hard and said, "You have to tell me what you did. Am I dying?"

Misa pet his wet hair and said, "Shhhh. We would never kill you. You're going to live a very long life, L Lawliet."

His stomach clenched at his real name, even as badly pronounced as Misa had said it. He knew all that it meant. It was the true spelling that was needed, not the true pronunciation, and though he'd suspected they'd had his name all along, this was a particularly unpleasant confirmation.

"You have killed me, then," he said, feeling miserable and yet somewhat disconnected from it all, still reaching out to both of them as they continued to dry, loving the feeling of their warm bodies, the sensation of closeness.

"No, we haven't. You'll be fine," Light said, and kissed him.

It was very gentle, just a soft momentary brushing of lips, but it was for some reason far more intense than any of the previous kisses.

The lingering questions drained out of L's mind as they helped him to his feet, draped in towels, and then, one on either side, took him back out into the hallway. He held hands with them as he walked, feeling a strange reluctance to let go.

Though L hadn't asked for a tour, Light took him to all the identical doors along the hallway and opened them, showing the now-empty padded rooms and explaining that everyone else had been let go. Then they took him to the mysterious stairwell, going both up and down to other parts of the building, some of which were high-security, but many of which were quite home-like with living rooms and kitchens.

There were entertainment rooms full of televisions, video games, music listening devices, card games and board games. There were well-stocked pantries full of every kind of food L liked. There were even two exercise rooms full of equipment, and an indoor tennis court.

Last of all, they showed him the upstairs shared bedroom with a large bed where all three would sleep, and the closets full of clothing, including sets and sets of L's preferred clothing, the exact sizes and brands correct.

By that point he was very agitated, questions swirling in his mind again, distinctly centered on the panic that had overtaken him each time one of them had let go of his hand for a few moments. He was almost numb as they helped him to dress in his usual outfit, although some part of him was very happy to have clothing again. Mostly, he missed the comfort of their bodies, the sense of intimacy.

As soon as they finished dressing him, L pulled both of them to the bed. He was desperate for close contact, closer than the touches of hands or of arms slung around shoulders. He wanted their bodies pressed completely against him, tangled together. He was almost sobbing from relief as he crouched over Light in bed and hugged him, linking his hands behind Light's back, and felt Misa snuggling close to both of them, slipping her arms through the gaps between their bodies.

L pushed Light right down and pulled Misa with them, rolling over into a better position, tangling all their legs together and trying to get more and more contact until at last his body calmed down and he could think again, settled directly between their two bodies, sandwiched effectively with their living, breathing warmth infusing him with stability. Misa's breath was hot on the back of his neck as he squirmed between them, staring at the ceiling and then out a window at the darkened sky and glowing street lamps.

L said, "I am not trying to escape, or to harm you, or to contact those who would arrest you. I am also having strange reactions. You say you haven't killed me, and I can only conclude that you are either lying or you have recently discovered some method of control that does not result in death."

Light answered, "We have preserved your life by controlling you in certain ways."

"That doesn't match with the information from Yotsuba. Either an intended victim is not affected at all, or they cannot survive beyond twenty-three days. The shredded paper Wedy retrieved said so, and there was never any pattern in Kira's killings that could have proved a deviation from this restriction."

Light said, "We used a very unusual loophole, and we tested it on plenty of other people before you. You're used to using loopholes. You know that any system of rules has loopholes and breaking points."

"How does it work?"

Misa answered, "We're not telling until you've completely chosen our side."

L pressed closer to Light, tracing a hand along the contours of Light's hip, and said, "What measures of control have you imposed on me?"

Light said, "I've given you as much of your own free will as I can allow in these circumstances. There are some choices you'll never be able to make, or will only be able to make under certain conditions. In other ways, you're programmable, to a degree. Beyond that, you'll make decisions exactly as you would normally."

"How do you program me? Will you write more instructions after my name if I misbehave?"

"No, everything that can be written there is already written. There's a time limit for writing down the details of death."

"Of death? Then you did kill me. When will I die?"

Misa said, "Not for years and years. You'll be really old! We've only taken one day away."

Light said, "We didn't pick an arbitrary point in old age for you to die. You see, there's something Rem never told you about the shinigami eyes. They don't just show a person's real name, but also a person's remaining lifespan. When I discovered the loophole that lets me kill a person without any regard for the 23-day rule, I realized immediately what this meant. I could control people for their entire lives, only killing them shortly before they would have died naturally."

L shivered at the thought, as things clicked into place in his mind, all the little hints and pieces of information he'd heard forming a frightening whole.

He said, "This is your new plan, Light? You'll stop killing criminals and start controlling everyone so that crime becomes impossible in the first place?"

"That's the ultimate goal," Light said, "but considering the many ways it could go wrong, I'll start small and gradually expand, perfecting my plan stage by stage and working out the bugs on smaller scales. By the time the entire world is affected, the system will be flawless. Everyone's name will be written, and everyone will sacrifice one day in order to create a utopia where crimes never happen."

Light propped his body up on an elbow, clenched a fist, and his eyes gained an odd, fanatical glitter, his voice rising as he added, "I'll gradually develop an army of controlled followers who will write the names and details of death, with all of them being unable to betray me or the cause. I'll start with a number of crime-ridden cities around the world as my first test cases, expand within a few years to controlling all the citizenry of five or six of the most crime-ridden nations in the world, and once I'm completely sure that no flaws are left, within thirty years I'll manage to develop a system where everyone has their name written in early childhood and the world becomes pure!"

Light's rather frightening face was a bit too close, and L leaned back as far as he could without cutting off the body contact he needed so much.

L said, "Light, has anyone ever told you that you have an overly-dramatic way of talking about your plans?"

Light simply blinked as if nothing had happened and said, "Well, what do you think?

_Insane. Deranged. Fanatical. Obsessed. But why does Light Yagami care what I think? Isn't he above seeking my approval?_

L answered, "Why one day? Why not a few seconds? Or perhaps an hour at most? Individually, I suppose a day is not much and everyone wastes a day or more of their lives anyway, but you are still killing them and overall it adds up to a great deal of potential time."

Misa said, "Because the numbers that show the lifespan are according to the shinigami calendar, and that's a little bit imprecise according to human time, especially if you don't specify a particular time zone for the person to die in. To make sure that we don't write down an impossible time of death and ruin all our work, we give it a day's leeway just to be safe. We could probably make it safe with less than an hour's leeway, but Light prefers plans that can't ever go wrong."

Light said, "L, you're not really saying what you think. You're picking at a largely irrelevant detail. What do you believe about my improved plan? I promise you won't be punished or locked up again for disagreeing."

After a few moments of thinking, L answered, "It seems to me that a self-appointed ruler of the world ought to have some humility and an absolutely impeccable moral code."

"Then it shouldn't be you, L."

"I'm not the one who is trying to rule the world. I have realistic ideas about my own limitations. If anything goes wrong with this, if the murder notebook-"

Light corrected, "The death note."

"If the death note ends up in the wrong hands, or if the slightest mistake is made in how people are controlled, it could be the worst sort of unending nightmare for humanity, instead of your imagined utopia. How would you stop people from murdering? How would you define murder? By forbidding murder, would you make self-defense impossible? Would you strip people of the right to genuinely feel their own emotions and have true self-determination? If you write that people will obey the law, then what happens if an unjust law is passed? Will you interfere in the course of politics, and if you do, then what will make you different from any other despotic ruler? People have a right to true democracy, to decide their own politics and laws regardless of what Light Yagami thinks about it."

Light said, "I've already considered many of these issues in great detail. People will only be controlled the minimum amount necessary to prevent them from performing any major crimes. Emotional abuse, verbal violence, bullying behaviors, and the softer crimes such as tax fraud, embezzling or being a con artist would be impossible to stop with my plan, because in order to stop those kinds of actions I would need to establish too much control over people, and they would lose their free wills. These sorts of problems may even increase greatly as evil people try to find some way to express their evil. But it's worth it, isn't it? A world where no major crimes can happen is still a true utopia."

L muttered, "The entire plan would be a management disaster waiting to happen. There are too many issues to keep track of, even with an army of loyal followers doing all the grunt work. A single paperwork mistake could doom a person to an early death, or to a lifetime of having no will or of engaging in bizarre controlled actions."

"The way we'll arrange everything, the chance for that will be minimized. It will happen once in a while, but that's a very small price to pay for a world free of all major crimes. Every layer of management will be literally unable to betray us, and it will be set up so that the system continues to function exactly the same way forever, each generation of leaders selecting intelligent heirs and controlling them just as I did, so that they'll keep everything running according to the same rules and principles. Unlike a system based on mundane checks and balances that could be infiltrated or betrayed from within, this system is based on supernatural controls and so it can stand forever, changing the world."

Leaning his head back, L stared out the bedroom window from an upside-down viewpoint. He couldn't see the stars against the darkness of the night sky because of the light pollution from the city below. He could see streetlamps, sides of buildings, and a portion of a street that was entirely empty at the moment.

All those people out there somewhere, they didn't know of the momentous decisions being made for them inside this building that resembled any ordinary building. L felt sorry for them. They had no voice, no way of voting to determine whether Light Yagami would control them or not.

L remained silent. It wasn't that he had run out of questions and concerns. It was rather the opposite. There were an unending number of questions and concerns that needed to be addressed, enough to probably fill up months and months of long conversations. The pure scale of Light's intentions was staggering.

"You'll help us," Light suddenly said.

"No. I won't."

L was starting to feel incredibly overwhelmed with the need to touch and cuddle even more deeply than before. He resisted pulling their bodies closer out of spite and stubbornness.

Light said, "Your intelligence is quite marvelous, you know. Between the two of us, we can create a flawless version of the plan I described. If you have problems with what I said, well, I see problems in it too. If you don't like something, you can change it until it is to your liking. We'll keep thinking and testing until we've brought my plan to a state of perfection. We'll have the time and the resources to make it work. I'll keep offering you the job until you accept of your own free will."

The shaking returned, and even the soothing presence of their bodies wasn't enough.

L muttered, "I can't... I need... hold me. Hold me now."

They both pressed closely, wrapping their arms tightly around, pulling him into a half-sitting position and rocking back and forth. The motion and closeness was soothing but it wasn't enough. L sobbed on them, surprised to feel tears running down his face. He didn't feel sad, he felt anxious, fragile, an incredible need for both of them unsettling him. They wiped his tears away and snuggled even closer, arms interlacing, hands slipping under his shirt for the much-required skin contact.

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

The reason L knows about the 23-day rule is because of a manga-only event, where Wedy was able to retrieve and restore a paper from the Yotsuba corporation's shredders that (without mentioning that the power came from writing or a notebook) mentioned a bunch of limitations on killing. The 23-day rule was one of these limitations.

For those who've read the "How to Read" canon supplement, Misa's birthday is on Christmas. You might have noticed that in my other fanfics previous to this, I've got Misa turning 21 on the Christmas after Higuchi's capture, while in this fanfic I've got her turning 20 on that same date. Why? It's because I calculated wrongly before.

I've got the right calculation now; I checked it a bunch of times. I'm not likely to go back and fix it in my previous fanfics, because of a few reasons.

One reason is that, even with search-and-replace, I might miss one reference to it and then end up with a fanfic that is internally contradictory, which is a much worse sin than contradicting canon.

Another reason is that it would be an incredible amount of work, especially since some fanfics of mine are uploaded to four or five separate archives, and I'd have to change each archive's copy in addition to changing my master files at home.


	6. Frustrated

**CHAPTER 5: Frustrated**

The panic didn't go away, but it stopped its sharp upward climb and somewhat stabilized.

When L could talk, he said, "Why? Why am I like this?"

Light said, "It's because you have a very strong will. You're resisting."

Misa said, "Stop thinking quite so much, and let us hold you tight."

"When will this end? If I give in, will it go away? Is it a punishment?"

It was all too much, too much. Everything inside was collapsing, fraying, unraveling.

Misa kissed him and it calmed him a little. She whispered, "It's not a punishment, L. It's a side effect."

Light added, "It will get much better before the first twenty-four hours have passed, and then you won't need to touch us so much. Don't worry; we'll help you through it, as much help as you need. We'll be here for you. We'll always cuddle you when you require it."

He needed to be fucked very badly. He struggled in their grasps, pulling at their clothing, trying to initiate the act before he quite realized what he was doing, and then he spread his legs wide and said, "Here, Light. I'm ready for you; I'll let you inside. I just... need it."

Light fumbled with the zipper to his jeans, pulling them and the underwear down and it wasn't fast enough.

L said, "I won't resist. Put your penis in me."

L wasn't quite aware of the room, but he dimly heard Light saying, "Not like this. You were very against penetration before and you're not in the right state of mind just now. I'd be taking advantage of you if I let your fear and agitation push you into it."

Hot kisses were planted all along the feverish skin of his inner thighs. He opened his legs wider, giving access, furious that Light was holding back.

"I can help you a little," Light said, "but this is the last time I'll give you this kind of sexual favor until you're truly ready for everything."

L felt Light's amazingly welcoming mouth slipping over his swollen, sensitive parts, and he glanced down to see the image that had sometimes appeared in his dreams and fantasies, Light sucking him off. Misa had slipped around to hold him from behind and he leaned back into her grasp, sliding downward onto her knees as Light's exquisite mouth sucked hard and furiously and just exactly how he needed it.

He clenched his thighs around Light's head and came, twisting in Misa's lap from the force of his orgasm, dimly aware of Light swallowing and swallowing just where the sensation was the strongest, throbbing deep within Light's throat.

Misa's breasts had somehow found their way into his hands and their bodies were twisted together again in a truly jumbled mess. L panted in satisfaction.

When he'd recovered enough to talk, he said, "You'll allow me to consent to blow jobs but not to anal sex?"

Light pulled L's clothing back into place and said, "It's because I know you're not actually against receiving blow jobs. However, anal sex is obviously a large mental hurdle for you, and you shouldn't be allowed to casually agree to it when you're in the middle of a panic."

L replied, "There is a difference, but not as much as you might think. I'm under your control. How do I ever know what my own true wishes are, regardless of whether I'm in a panic or not?"

"You might not know," Light said, "but I know. I'm the one who decided how much control to put you under, and I left most of your free will intact. Your natural desires are now more difficult for you to suppress, but I didn't create desires and place them in your mind. If you didn't want us to be engaging in sexual acts with you, then you wouldn't be letting us."

"Tell me exactly how you program me. Also, show me what was written alongside my name."

Light said, "What we wrote next to your name will always remain secret, but I'll tell you the rest. Do you know how I obtained Raye Penber's name?"

"You must have had some sort of direct contact with him, before the day he died on the subway, and you tricked him into saying or writing his name."

Light said, "That's right. I arranged that a criminal would hijack a bus that I was sure I would be riding while Raye was following me. Then I played a hapless hostage and got Raye to show me his FBI identification in order to prove to me that he wasn't in collusion with the hijacker. Otherwise, Raye would think that an innocent teenager would foolishly try to attack the hijacker and get himself killed. He had to protect me by revealing his name, even though I was completely safe."

"Interesting. But what does this have to do with what is happening to me now?"

"One of the rules of the death note is that, when you write the details of death, you can't make that person have actions towards any other specific person. If you try this by writing the second person's real name, all details of death become void and both people simply die of heart attacks. If you try this by writing a nickname or a title such as 'bus driver' or 'the chief of police' or 'her boyfriend', then only the person with the name you actually write dies, and the details become void. Nothing happens to the second person."

"Yes," Misa said, "if I had written something like 'Light Yagami marries Misa Amane' in my death note, Light wouldn't have married me, but instead we both would have gotten heart attacks in forty seconds."

L said, "You subverted this limitation by writing something such as 'hijack a bus' and then describing the bus you were planning to take, while knowing that the criminal would decide the details of how to hijack that bus, which would be impossible to do without threatening the driver. This way you would not have to specify any actions towards the driver, but those actions would happen anyway. Am I correct?"

"Exactly," Light said, "I tested some of these techniques before I killed Raye Penber, but ever since I kidnapped you, I've done far more extensive testing to figure out exactly how to control people into having actions or loyalties toward specific other people, regardless of whether those other people have had their names written or not. It was Misa who put me on the right track, and then I figured out the rest for myself. She does sometimes have quite inspired ideas."

Misa giggled against L's shoulder and said, "You don't think I'm very smart, L, but you know I managed to create a plan to find Kira, right under your nose. My plan was so clever, you almost didn't catch us at all."

"That is true. I must confess I underestimated you, Misa, repeatedly. If I had paid more attention to your actions when we were investigating Yotsuba, both of you would have been caught. Rem might have negated that victory immediately after, but at least I would have won momentarily."

Light stroked a hand along L's stomach and said, "You're still obsessed with winning. Don't you realize that both of us have won?"

"Whatever you say, Light. At least I admit I'm childish."

After a pause, Light said, "For an example of programming, I can write for the details of death that the controlled person will go to a particular place, retrieve a piece of paper, or perhaps a voice recording, and follow those instructions. In those instructions I can write or record whatever I want, including references to specific people. I might decide what to put there long after I've finished writing the details of death. Live voices can also be used as long as I write something such as 'any words heard' in the death note and then take steps to be sure the controlled person will only hear what I wish during the programmable time period. I can even have multiple points in time when the target person will receive these sorts of instructions, so I can refine my plan."

L understood and said, "When you gagged me and were talking to me, that was during a time period when I had been controlled to be receptive to any words I heard. You gagged me so that I would be unable to program myself. You also made me unable to consciously remember what has been said to me during these times, so that I will be less likely to find subtle loopholes in your words and act against you through them."

Light said, "Yes. You will have a number of times like this throughout your life, when you will be programmable for about an hour, by any voice you hear. Immediately before those times, you will shut up in obedience to any voice that tells you to, so that you don't program yourself by accident or on purpose. I know exactly when these times are, but they'll be kept a secret from you."

"What else did you do to me? Go ahead, tell me."

"Other than the bare minimum that is necessary to keep you from acting against my plan, I've made you dependent on myself and Misa. You're in a process of bonding with us, and you'll always wish to sleep in the same bed as us and you'll crave our touch. You can make your own decisions about whether to have sex with us or not, but, as long as all three of us are alive, you'll never be far from us for very long. If you reject us, any sex partners you find would need to put up with the fact that you will always live with us or near to us and will visit us quite frequently."

Misa excitedly added, "Also, we've made it so you now get attracted to men and women equally! If it was bothering you before, then you won't have any more reservations about Light being a man."

L said, "Sexual orientation is innate. I don't think you actually did that."

"We can," Light said, "within limitations. A heterosexual person cannot be made exclusively homosexual by the death note, or vice versa, but anyone can be pushed towards the center of the bisexual spectrum, so that gender stops being an issue for romance. It's apparently part of human biology to be somewhat bisexual, and it's not at all difficult to increase that tendency."

L grabbed Light's shoulders, looked him hard in the eyes and said, "You've experimented on the sexual orientation of human beings... that is unconscionable! There is no possible way to justify this morally. Do you understand what you've done? This is monstrous, and it proves that you shouldn't regard yourself worthy of ruling the world!"

Light pulled back at that statement, looking upset and just a little insane. L couldn't stand the missing contact and crawled forward on his knees and elbows until he could curl up with his head settled into Light's lap. Misa followed, cuddling up to L's back.

Light said, "I didn't use people just for experiments in sexual orientation. I was performing lots of experiments at once, and I saw the chance to add those experiments in as well, making the entire process efficient. Kira is not a monster. I need to understand every detail of what the death notes can and can't accomplish if I'm going to change the world without anything going wrong."

L muttered, "I suppose it is a lesser evil compared to murdering people, but I am still very disappointed in you, Light."

L was shaking again and Light pet his hair. When L's mood had stabilized once more from the soothing touches, he said, "This is annoying. By tomorrow, will I no longer need to remain in contact with the two of you so much?"

"Probably," Light said, "but the time it takes for a bond like this to form is variable. We'll go to sleep soon, and that will help, with the three of us sleeping in one bed."

"Did you do this to the others before you let them go? All this cuddling and bonding?"

"No," Light answered, "because it is only necessary for them to not betray us. I programmed them, and it was simple enough to make it impossible for them to ever believe that I am Kira or that Misa is the second Kira."

_Watari will never believe that Light is Kira!_

Light continued with, "With you, a very strong bond must be formed because we're letting you in on the secret. Even if you reject us, we need to be able to keep close track of you always, and the only way to do this without removing your free will is to make you want to be around us a lot."

L looked up in surprise. He said, "I can truly reject you? I could take some other lover and ignore both of you?"

Light answered, "I suppose it would be difficult to get any lover until after you're able to leave this building, but we won't stop your attempts. Technically, you could lean out a window and proposition people who walk past."

"So, there's no internet here, or phones?"

"No, and you're not going to dismantle any of the electronic devices we have in order to build your own modems or communication devices. You simply won't be able to."

L said, "You don't quite trust the amount of control you have over me, or you would not seek to limit my movements and communication so severely. You're desperately afraid that I'll find a way to slip out of your control."

Light emphatically said, "It's that I have respect for your mental abilities, L. All of this has been worked out to account for everything you might try to defeat Kira. You won't be able to leave this building until you've decided, of your own free will, to support my plan. Until then, you'll be in this place and under frequent observation in case any adjustments need to be made. Regardless of what you decide, you can't turn in Kira or the second Kira to the authorities, and you won't be able to give the authorities any information on us, even indirectly, but you still need to be managed and observed because of your very high intelligence."

The sexual need was beginning to return. It really had been a long time with almost no relief for the frustration, and two orgasms simply wasn't enough to drain away all that tension. L resolved that he would take matters into his own hands, quite literally. He slipped his hands into his underwear, curling fingers around his penis, and then simply stopped.

Impulses battled inside him. Confused, he realized that he'd withdrawn his hands, so he put them back in place, ready to stroke his half-hard erection into fullness, but once again his fingers merely rested lightly around his organ, not stroking at all, and then he withdrew them.

_I'm not embarrassed. I wouldn't be ashamed to do this while they watch, and I feel no shame at this moment._

L tried a third time with the same result and then said, "You are interfering with my ability to masturbate. Tell me exactly in which ways you've influenced my sexual habits."

Misa said, "We only did two more things. You can't masturbate, which you've already guessed, and you really like anal stimulation."

L said, "That's very mean and it impinges on my rights. Both of you want to force me to submit myself."

Light said, "If we wanted that, we could have written it, and you would have submitted completely. You would even have done it happily, if I'd written that you'd enjoy the process. No, we want you to decide to submit yourself, of your own will."

"It's not exactly my will if you use coercive techniques."

"What part of life isn't coercive? For example, many people do not wish to work difficult or dangerous jobs, yet they do so because economic conditions coerce them into it. If you really think about it, there are very few choices that anyone can make without influences of some kind pushing them in one direction or another."

"You made me _unable to masturbate_, Light. That's rather extreme. And you've modified my anal sensitivity in an effort to convince me to give in to your wish to top me."

Light reached down and massaged L's butt through the material of his jeans. It did feel very good and L caught himself just before he would have unconsciously pressed into Light's touches.

Light said in a husky whisper, "I can guarantee you'll like it when you finally decide that you want my penis in here. It will feel extremely nice."

L slapped at Light's hand and smirked when Light withdrew it.

"I've decided," L said, "that I won't be having a sexual relationship with you, Light. You don't deserve it. I'm going to demand that you supply me with enough cuddling to deal effectively with this strange disability you've given me, but there will be nothing between us other than cuddling and companionship."

Light said, "You're not going to get Misa without me."

L shrugged his shoulders and said, "Perhaps."

"And you're not going to get relief through masturbation, and with your stubbornness it might be a very long time until you can freely leave this building in order to approach other potential sexual partners."

L chewed on a finger and said, "That is fine."

"Why are you being like this?"

L said, "It is probably some residual resentment, because you rewrote my personality without my permission."

In an exasperated tone, Light said, "I didn't rewrite it. You're still you, L, and you're being childish."

It warmed L's heart to hear that tone.

L replied, "We can all be childish together, then. You should suffer some consequences for programming my mind without my permission."

"You're actually going to deny _yourself_ any orgasms, in order to punish me?"

"Exactly," L replied.

"Misa," Light snapped, "it's time to show L more of what he's missing."

She giggled in a sickeningly cute way and began shedding clothing. Light rolled on top of her and helped with the process. L scrambled along, keeping contact with both, a panic overtaking him just at the thought of letting go.

L said, "You're seriously going to do it again? Right now?"

She panted, "Watching Light suck you off got me really hot, Ryuzaki. I've been waiting a long time for your conversation to be over."

L muttered, "Light, you are evil."

Light only smiled in return, the first time L had ever seen Light react positively to being called evil. A few moments later, they were rutting furiously, almost on top of L's body. Out of pure curiosity, he slipped a finger alongside Light's penis and penetrated Misa, curling it up on each in-stroke in hopes of hitting her G-spot.

She writhed and sobbed in response, her face a mask of pleasure.

L began making plans for seducing her privately. Anytime in the future that Light might be gone would be an opportunity that shouldn't be wasted.

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

This loophole to get past the 23-day rule is entirely an invention for this fanfic, and so it operates according to how I want it to operate instead of according to canon.

In canon, there is no way to get past the 23-day rule except for a different method outlined in the canon supplement material, which is to write that a person will die of a disease that always takes more than 23 days to kill, and to not write in a time of death. The person will acquire the disease within 23 days and then die as soon afterwards as is possible.

There are a few diseases that are never known to kill within a short time period, such as prion-caused diseases, and I've seen some fan speculation about characters making themselves immune to the death note but simultaneously making sure they will have a lifespan measured in years, not days, by using this method on themselves.

I am not using that particular loophole. For one thing, it doesn't allow for a specific death time, let alone a death time exactly one day less than a person's lifespan. For another thing, it would require that every controlled person be diseased and die within about 20 years at most, which simply doesn't fit the requirements of this fanfic.

So my loophole should be viewed as an entirely made-up thing specific to this fanfic, which has nothing to do with the only canon method of getting past the 23-day rule.


	7. Deceived

**CHAPTER 6: Deceived**

Early the next morning, while the sky was ablaze with red but the sun wasn't even up yet, L woke up his bed companions.

As they were still blinking and stretching sleepily, L said, "I demand you show me proof that Watari is still alive."

Light said, "I've already thought of that. I can't allow any back-and-forth contact yet, but videos will arrive at 2 P.M. every day of Watari, Wedy, Aiber and all the others holding up current newspapers and talking about recent headlines. Since you'll be able to watch television and we are subscribed to newspapers, you can match this information. It might take a few days for you to believe, or a few weeks if you're very stubborn, but you'll eventually be forced to admit that they are alive and well."

L replied, "If you can control people without killing them, then you could have created all these videos at some point in the past, and now you could be manipulating the media in order to create matching news stories to the ones you already fabricated."

"Even if I had killed them and if I am controlling all media personnel everywhere, I wouldn't have an endless supply of videos of people who are already dead, and I couldn't make every single detail match so well that a person of your intelligence wouldn't eventually notice a mistake."

L answered, "You are correct. It wouldn't make sense for you to lie to me using this scheme, since it would fall through eventually. Still, you must keep producing the videos. Until I can contact them directly at my leisure, ongoing proof would make me more comfortable."

_And it would also take Light away from this place regularly, and waste his time. Although, if my deductions are correct, then he must get out of here for large amounts of time on a frequent basis anyway._

L asked, "If you programmed the others but didn't use this 'bonding' on them, then how do you know that 'bonding' will work on me and won't harm me?"

"Who do you think I tested 'bonding' on? There were hundreds of subjects before I tried it on you. I already have a large number of people under my absolute control, running whatever experiments I wish in order to produce the information I need for the Kira plan. I own several other buildings where such experiments occur, and I'll go there to work each day. You'll join me at this work after you decide to be loyal."

"Ahhhhh!" Misa said, stretching, "I want to sleep another hour! Both of you talk so much!"

Under the covers, L played with the edge of her silky pink camisole and said, "Since Light is the big boss, I'm sure he can arrive at work whenever he wishes. And, though I'm quite awake for the day, I can cuddle next to you and pretend to sleep."

Misa said, "But, L, you're the one who woke me up!"

Light slipped out of the bed and said, "L, that's a rather transparent attempt to seduce Misa. You know she's not going to disobey me just because you spend extra time in bed with her."

L kissed the back of Misa's neck, right along her hairline, and whispered, "I think you like my oral, don't you? Light hasn't forbidden that. If you ask, I'll do it for you again, exactly the way you want."

Even in the dim lighting of the room, L could see the sudden flush of pink coloring her neck, cheek and closest ear. Light began dressing, but he was watching attentively, as if he expected it to happen.

"I'm merely offering," L said, "but if Misa declines, then I'll cuddle unobtrusively."

She sank backwards into the curve formed by his body and he enveloped her in his arms and legs, his belly pressed against her back. She was very warm and her body felt soft, loose and relaxed, perhaps a body on the verge of going back to sleep. He wanted to try to stick his fingers inside, but she truly did seem to drift off to sleep again, and so he held her, glad that his need to cuddle didn't require him to be in contact with two bodies at once.

After a time he grew restless and eager to test his theories, so he withdrew to the opposite side of the room, amazed that he didn't go into a panic. Hoping that Light had perhaps left the premises altogether, he slipped out the bedroom door, down a stairwell, and into another room he'd noted earlier, one where a quick drop out of a window would lead to a slightly lower roof and then to the ground level.

L searched the room for hidden cameras, and, finding none, opened the window. He leaned out into a sharp winter breeze and bright sunlight. He willed himself to complete the movement, but he kept not choosing it, a strange, insurmountable inner conflict holding him back each time he thought he'd made the decision. It was frustrating and fascinating and he almost admired Light for it.

He tried the same strategy with several more windows in various rooms, until a collection of wonderful scents drew him to one of the kitchens, where he found Light cooking pancakes. There was an assortment of syrups sitting on the table, alongside a large plate of recently-cooked pancakes and another of warm doughnuts and pastries.

"Help yourself," Light said.

Somehow, now that he was loose and in open rebellion, it felt wrong to simply accept nourishment from Kira without a fight. L poked suspiciously at the doughnuts and began stacking them on his plate in an elaborate pattern while deciding what to do. The pancakes smelled healthy, but with the supplied toppings they could be made sweet enough. Warm smells wafted up and tempted his stomach.

He smelled the cake before he saw it, turning around to see Misa entering, carrying a white-frosted cake. She was in a red-and-black corset top and a very short dark gray miniskirt with striped leggings underneath.

"This is for you, L," she said, and plopped it down in front of him, "it's to celebrate you being unchained! This is the start of a new world, and we'll all live happily together!"

L answered, "Do I get another blow job too?"

Light said, "There won't be any orgasms for you until you give in, but I encourage everything else."

Misa leaned down to worry at L's ear with soft lips, and then whispered in his ear, "We can do everything that Light allows. Don't you want to go all the way, though? You can get it as soon as you admit you want Light inside you."

L blinked uncertainly to find a neatly cut piece of the cake on a small plate in front of him. Misa had somehow done it while he was distracted.

He grabbed her waist just as she was about to walk to her own place at the table, and said, "Will you sit on my lap and feed me, Misa? I don't think I can accept food from Light, since he's being so mean, but you're a different matter entirely. If you spoon it into my mouth it'll make it all better."

He put his legs down, feeling odd in that position, and Misa settled onto his lap. He was once again reminded of just how tiny she was. Even sitting on him, he had to lean down slightly to connect their lips.

She didn't object to any of it, not to his kisses or his wandering hands, which even found their way under her skirt at times to tease. He held back, trying to create the greatest possible desire in her, to induce the largest possibility that she might disobey when Light wasn't watching.

Bite by bite, her slender hands fed him cake, pancakes smothered in numerous toppings, and pastries, sometimes with and sometimes without the help of a delicate little fork. Her aim was occasionally sloppy, leaving frosting and syrups around his lips, which he insisted that she clean up with her tongue, and sometimes she did. In return he licked her fingers clean.

Although she protested about supposedly getting fat, he was able to coax her into directly eating a substantive amount of the sweets with him, including an eclair they consumed from both ends and met to kiss in the middle, making her giggle. She frequently switched between a sideways position and one where she straddled him, their crotches pressed hotly together, and sometimes he would grind upward just a little, deliberately being a tease.

During all this, Light never objected. He didn't even seem jealous. If anything, he was rather smug-looking as he finished cooking and ate his own meal at the opposite side of the table. There was a slowly-building pressure between L's legs, a gradual heating that was under control, not as fiercely needy as it had been the previous day. Two orgasms had taken off the edge. He wanted more, but it was tolerable to tease Misa.

Light finished his meal and started to leave the room.

Misa turned to look and, waving, said, "Bye, Light!"

Light paused, smiled and said, "L, these first two days, at least one of us will be here all the time in case you begin to suffer from a cuddling emergency. After we're sure that you're beyond that point in the process, you'll occasionally be here alone."

"Yes," Misa said, "I've got a photo shoot this afternoon, but I won't leave until Light gets back to take care of you."

_Is this a ruse? Will Light pretend to go and then double back to watch us and see if we are being naughty? It doesn't really matter. Under these conditions it is impossible to avoid getting caught sooner or later._

L stared at Light's retreating form and then returned his attention to Misa's ear, where he was breathing into it after having thoroughly coated it in saliva. He could feel her shiver slightly in response to each heated breath.

He listened for the sound of Light returning, hearing nothing as he continued teasing her, his hands remaining just shy of her erogenous zones. Even when he put his hands under her skirt, he merely traced the lacey outlines of her panties instead of touching directly between her legs.

At the moment that he first became sure that Light wasn't returning soon, Misa reached into his underwear, perhaps sensing a change in his tenseness.

He wasn't sure if it was a trick or not, as his half-hard penis swelled strongly under the soothing touches of her hand. It wasn't a real hand job, not enough to orgasm to; it was rather just another kind of teasing.

L reached around her back and unhooked, one by one, the fasteners that kept her corset top on, and then pulled it away, letting it drop to the floor, and exposing her bare from the waist up. Her breasts were just as he'd remembered them, perky and almost exact dome shapes, small but very pleasing. Her pink nipples were already hard, and he dipped a finger into the remaining cake and then anointed both of them with frosting, which he licked clean, making her let out breathy moans, soft and feminine.

She was shifting back and forth on his lap more, giving him a definite lap dance with the grinding pressure going through his jeans and hitting just so against the base of his erection, but her hand in his pants was meek, curled around and moving slightly over the tip, not the firm aggression he needed for release.

He decided that he wanted to take her completely. He smeared cake, gobs of it, all over her chest, licking and massaging and nuzzling, making a complete gooey mess but it felt and tasted so good, and besides there might be bathing or showering needed to clean it all off later, and that would result in more opportunities.

She seemed to like his new boldness, and her strokes were suddenly a little bit closer to what he needed. He moaned and thrust up into her hand as well as he could with her squirming weight on his lap.

She clung to him with her other arm and said, "We're being naughty, L."

"It's naughty," he agreed.

His hands were full of her, all soft supple curves and yielding warmness, and slippery when he reached under her skirt again and didn't stop at her panties but shoved them aside and let one finger and then two work inside. His thumb slowly moved back and forth over that swollen, sensitive little nub that was standing out more and more.

"I'm afraid," she gasped, "that you might come, and that's against the rules."

Her hand slipped out of his pants and he whimpered, but quickly gathered his wits and said, "It's not against the rules for you to come, Misa. Do you want me to eat you out again?"

"Yes," she breathed.

With that permission, he tipped her backwards and leveraged her onto the table, shoving aside the dishes in the way but letting her squash a few doughnuts under her body. It didn't matter.

In moments, he had her underwear ripped away and her miniskirt shoved up, her legs slung over his shoulders as he lapped at her, at that warm, musky, feminine taste.

The muscles inside were beginning to tighten in a way that had somewhat of a rhythm to it, so he stopped for a moment just to tease her, using the excuse of reaching for a bottle of maple syrup, and then applied a dollop to the clitoris, being careful not to get it inside so it wouldn't cause a yeast infection. Then he applied his tongue with vigor to her now-sweetened nub.

The pause hadn't been quite enough to drop her excitement level, and she was almost there again, inner muscles clenching, back arching, and he had to stop to deny her the pleasure, resting and then simply poking with his tongue, gentle tweaks to keep her squirming.

He wanted to hear her beg for it, but if she wouldn't beg, he wanted to give her a powerful, long, drawn-out orgasm that would stay in her mind and perhaps tempt her to other deeds later.

He was almost ready to beg, himself. His erection was so stiff it was nearly painful, a sensation of everything gathering there, tremendously warm with arousal.

On a sudden whim, L shed his clothing and tried to touch himself, reasoning that it perhaps wouldn't count as masturbation to jerk off while performing oral, but, though he could touch, he simply couldn't stroke.

Images flooded his mind of drenching her in olive oil and then rutting near her vagina in the slick space between two clenched-together thighs, or between an arm and an armpit, or along the backside of a knee. That would be the next loophole to try; something that surely should count as sex rather than masturbation, and that might result in an orgasm despite Light's "no penetration" order.

After all, Light had ordered no hand jobs either, but Misa had already nearly performed one.

Misa panted. "I want..."

L licked painstakingly slowly, waiting to hear the end of that sentence, but it never came.

He pulled his mouth away and said, "What do you want, Misa?"

Misa smiled, a slightly evil smile, and she said, "I did exactly as Light instructed. Even when I was being 'naughty' it was what he'd told me to do."

Her eyes caught on something behind him, and L glanced over his shoulder to see Light's head poking around a doorway. Light appeared more fully, revealing a smirk and then approaching. He smoothly fished a toothpaste-shaped tube of lubricant out of his suit jacket's pocket and squeezed a long line onto an outstretched finger.

L shivered in place, unsure of what he wanted as Light pressed up behind him, placing a chin on his shoulder, flinging one arm around to curl about his stomach, and slipping that lube-coated finger inside.

It felt like he was going insane; it was strange, invading, overwhelming, and L suddenly knew he wanted more as that finger worked inside him, plunging in and out, rubbing just the right place. Light obviously knew how to find the prostate.

An instinct pressured him to spread his legs to give Light better access, but L stubbornly kept them mostly closed.

Light said right next to his ear, "Look at Misa. She's all ready to be fucked, and she's in the perfect position. One of us needs to give her some relief, don't you think?"

Using one arm and his hips, Light guided L forward, continuing to finger-fuck him, until he was leaning right up against Misa, her damp cleft very close as L settled between her spread legs. The table was exactly the right height for intercourse in this position and he wondered, as those marvelous fingers kept hitting things just right inside him, if the table had been manufactured specifically for this.

The fingers inside wouldn't let up, relentlessly working in that slickness. Light's sudden grasp on his penis was a delicious jolt.

His brain was starting to shut down in a haze of instinct, thoughts flowing away and being replaced by raw anticipation, a wordless expectation that Light was about to guide his penis into Misa at any moment. L gripped her thighs, leaning up against her, feeling the slippery folds, almost in, if only Light would let him forward that tiniest bit, and somehow his own legs were spread, Light behind him, working in a rhythm he was getting used to.

"I'm up to three fingers now, L. You're very ready. I could put my penis inside if you say so, and then I'll let you fuck Misa. We'll all three be joined."

"Ahhhh... Ahhhh... No, Light. I'm not willing, not for that."

In just a moment, Light had pulled him away from Misa's inviting dampness, and the fingers were gone as well, with a satisfying pulling sensation of that ring of muscles sliding over knuckles, and then an empty feeling.

L staggered on his feet.

"Help me lay him down on the floor," Light commanded.

Their hands were on him, and he debated whether to struggle.

"If I cooperate, will I get anything in return?"

Light said, "You might."

L settled onto the floor, lying down. Misa and Light both stood over him, leaning to stare, Misa nearly nude and Light nearly clothed, though his trousers were unzipped and an erection peeked out the fly.

Light said, "Sit on his stomach and kiss him."

Misa obeyed, and L closed his eyes, his heart beating faster to feel her warm, feminine flesh settling onto him, so close and yet so far from the target.

His erection tapped against her butt as she squirmed in place on his stomach and their lips met, and he was tasting her lip gloss again, her cherry-flavored sweetness. Light pulled her rump up, getting her into an all-fours position over L, and then Light slid into her and she cried out loudly.

They were fucking right over his body, so close that Light's swinging testicles sometimes hit the tip of L's penis. He wanted to be part of it. He grabbed her breasts and rolled them around in his hands, he stared into her face of exquisite lust, graced with an ever-varying expression of ecstasy where he could see the effects of each of Light's in-strokes.

An idea occurred to him, and he slipped a finger inside Misa, and then two, and when he judged there was perhaps enough room, he arched up, trying to connect, trying to get a penis in her vagina alongside Light's.

Light saw the movement and smoothly blocked it with his hand.

"You're mean!" L panted, "Let me fuck Misa a little bit, and then perhaps later we'll get around to what you want to do."

Never breaking his rhythm, Light looked down with a masterful, dominating expression and said, "No."

"If you're not going to get me off, then this is entirely pointless."

Light replied, "You can get off perfectly well with my penis in your ass, and you know it. You're just being stubborn for the sake of not losing."

"That may be true," L said.

Light smiled a truly evil smile in return and said, "You're desperate for an orgasm by now, aren't you?"

"No," L lied.

"Tell the truth."

L said, "I'm not required to tell the truth. You've left that much to me. I'm sure you imagined I could someday be in a situation where I must lie for your benefit, and so you did not dare to deprive me of this ability."

Light said, "Yes, you can lie all you want."

L said, "Tell me the truth about one thing, Light. Did you control me to be hornier?"

"No," Light said, "but I know that you're like me. Your mind is so intelligent that, ah... if it happens to become bored, you don't deal with it well. It needs a big project that's truly challenging. Without that, you suffer from cravings and... and... you're always searching for something to satisfy you. With the situation I've created, sex is what your mind would naturally latch onto."

L studied Light's face carefully. Light wasn't a flawless actor like Misa, so if it were a lie it was fairly likely a clue should show in some way, especially at a moment of emotional vulnerability. No hint of deception was showing.

Light said, "You've had nothing engaging to think about for months, except the two of us trying to seduce you. Plus, you were always attracted to us more than you ever admitted to yourself. You didn't want to be involved with suspects."

"You are correct that I didn't want to be involved with serial killers."

L slipped out from under their bodies and sat up, fuming. He wanted to force Light to the floor and shove his dick down Light's throat repeatedly until climax. The image in his mind was making his arousal even worse, and he banished it.

Instead, he crawled about, gathering up his clothing, and fled to the shower to spend a long time under the cool water, trying to drive away the heat of arousal that had pooled in his lower torso. The erection itself was easy to get rid of, but the lingering feelings stayed, ready to inspire another erection at any moment.

Once L was out of the shower, they both tried to socialize with him, but he fled from room to room, avoiding them until they stopped following.

He tried several more schemes for exiting the building, and failed at all of them. He could lean outside, sticking a head or an arm or even an entire torso out of a window or a door, but that was as far as he was able to go.

L concluded that there was probably a loophole that would allow him to go outside without deciding to support Kira, but it might require an accident, such as falling out a window, or a life-threatening situation, such as the building being on fire, or an elaborate scheme, such as hiding inside a box and arranging for a delivery person to pick up that box without Light or Misa knowing about it.

Any of those would take time, or luck, or a great deal of planning, or all three, and Light probably had measures in place to block those loopholes as much as possible. L was fairly certain that Light would have at least made arson impossible; he was that intelligent.

L was in the process of filling a backpack full of the most useful items to flee with, in case he ever should get out, when the annoying need to cuddle began rising in him again.

At first he ignored it, continuing to sort through items in a closet, but then the craving hit him as badly as any sugar craving he'd ever experienced in his life. He started shaking, dropped everything, and rushed to a nearby room for a makeshift solution he'd thought of earlier.

L grabbed several large throw pillows, placed them on the plush carpet in the rough shape of a person, and lay down on the floor cuddling them full-length, his entire body pressed against them, smelling their fresh scent and imagining it was Light and Misa.

The panic continued to rise in his throat. He could feel his heart beating fast. He clutched harder and whimpered, imagining fiercely that he was snuggled up to them, but it was only taking a slight edge off his need, not assuaging it altogether. He sobbed. His eyes were watering. He felt miserable and ashamed.

He wanted to scream for them, but he stubbornly avoided crying out. He clutched and clawed at the pillows, tearing them a bit in his roughness, and then, suddenly, he heard steps behind him and her soothing voice.

"Oh! You poor thing! Rem said you were like this."

The soft footsteps moved closer. He kept his eyes tightly shut and managed to control his voice, preventing the pathetic whimpers that were threatening to spill out, but the shaking was getting much worse.

It was a sudden shock when she lay down behind him, spooning him, and his emotional equilibrium shifted so suddenly it was dizzying. She was his stability, her physical presence healing as she snuggled close. Her body was soft and warm and intimate, her care enclosing him, her cool hands soothing on his heated forehead. Everywhere she touched, it was an immense relief. He sucked on his own fingers, and on hers as well when she offered them, tasting traces of some sort of feminine lemony lotion she must have used.

When his thinking had returned nearly to normal levels, he said, "I don't seem to require both of you at the same time any more. One is sufficient to cuddle. Will it be like this forever?"

She kissed the back of his neck and said, "Once you settle in to this bond, it won't be quite so often, but you'll always need some cuddling from us."

She clasped her arms around his stomach and squeezed. It was immensely good. L wanted to simply drift in her arms forever.

He said, "It was you who decided I shouldn't die, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but Light agreed when I told him, so that proves he loves you too. You shouldn't be so hard on him, L."

"Why didn't you want me to die?"

"Because I love you, silly! And because Misa Amane never abandons her friends! I've told you this much before."

L said, "You've told me these specific things before, but not as reasons for preserving my life."

"Then you're not as good at deductions as you're supposed to be, if you can't put _that_ together and come up with the right conclusion. Or is it just social relationships that confuse you?"

"You could have reasoned that I'm not really your friend, since I was hoping to arrest Kira and I had accused you and Light."

"Well, you couldn't help that! You didn't know any better! Besides, I tried to catch Kira, and so did Light. We're all the same that way."

L said, "You never saw me as an enemy instead of a friend?"

"Nope! You're a misguided friend, so that makes you not an enemy, and it means you need our help. So, we're helping you now."

_What a simple way of thinking about things. Misa has a very strange mind, with high intelligence and an almost childish sort of stupidity mixed together in quite odd ways. Perhaps she is actually smart overall, and the apparently stupid ideas are due to delusional thinking._

He pulled one of her hands from his stomach to his mouth, and resumed gently sucking on her fingers. He felt very protected, safe, enfolded and happy. For some time, he drifted away into a state of bliss that was almost on the edge of sleep, barely aware of the room even when he opened his eyes for a time.

At last, the cuddling need ebbed away, and the unfulfilled sexual need that had been lurking in the background began to assert itself strongly. The closeness of Misa's body only fed his state of arousal, and he debated whether to disengage and try to cool off elsewhere again, but he wasn't willing to lose. Seducing Misa was a goal that had been set, and so it wasn't something to give up on so soon.

He reached over his shoulder to stroke her soft blond hair and said, "You say I'm your friend, but you also want more. You want to be my lover. What led you to this conclusion?"

"Hmmm? Well, you're actually pretty cute, even if you don't think so. When I kissed you that first time, you reacted like you'd never been kissed before. And your eyes are dark and mysterious, and you really want to work hard and do the right things, to stand for justice. Besides, how could I not like you, after seeing how Light loves you? If Light loves anything, I love it too!"

_I need a better pick-up line._

L said, "Do you like to see me naked? How does that make you feel?"

Her voice went soft and slightly husky as she said, "I think you're just as cute without your clothing. You're very cute when you're coming, too. You blush a little bit. I wish I had a video of Light sucking on you."

"There are some extremely high-quality video cameras on the premises. If you need instruction in how to use them, I'll teach you. Then, convince Light to give me another blow job and create your video."

"Light's not going to give in."

L made his voice sound as pitiful as he could and said, "Misa, I can't masturbate, I'm denied sex, and I know from experience that I wake up too easily to have very many orgasms from dreams. Please help me. If you don't give me a hand job, or allow sex, or convince Light to allow sex, then... I don't know what might happen. I'm already suffering tremendously."

He guided her hand to the bulge between his legs and said, "It's really aching here. I must have relief. Please! You made me unable to help myself."

In a slightly evil voice, she said, "You know how to get relief, and you know that you'll enjoy having Light's penis in your ass. You just don't want to lose."

He rolled over on top of her, kissing her mouth hungrily, and then her neck, and then, as he pulled her shirt up, her breasts.

She anticipated his target as he started down her stomach and said, "I won't change my mind, but... ah, you can give me as much oral as you want, L."

Just to be perverse, he disengaged and ran out of the room, leaving her panting and half-nude on the floor.

He already had a plan in mind.

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

L sees Misa very much as a follower of Light, which is why he doesn't blame her equally for everything that happened. Also, it is convenient because it leaves her as an acceptable target for his libido.


	8. Hypnotized

**CHAPTER 7: Hypnotized**

After running away from Misa, L knew exactly where to go.

There was a room full of massage tables and all sorts of oddly-shaped furniture, most of it made of waterproof materials and quite obviously meant as positioning aids for sex. From the brief tour L had received before, he knew the cupboards in that room were full of oils, lotions, lubricants, foot rollers and the like.

One particular big stuffed leather chair had caught his attention, as it was plugged into the wall and had many dials and buttons on it. It was most likely a massage chair, probably with vibrating or other pervert-able functions, and it certainly warranted more investigation.

L went to that chair and tested its functions. It did have a very strong "vibrate" mode. He settled into the chair on his back, letting the vibrations get deep into his muscles, and thinking of Light and Misa servicing him as they'd done in the shower. When he was at a strong height of arousal, he attempted to flip over onto his stomach. He only made it halfway there. He couldn't place his groin in contact with the vibrations, only every other part of his body.

He switched the vibrations off and settled into the chair on his stomach, then tried to switch them on again. His hand wouldn't quite press the button.

L wasn't willing to accept defeat. He kept at it for hours, until Light walked in with a small brown package in his hand and said, "Do you need any help, L?"

"Yes," L replied, "I'd like you to suck my cock."

Light walked over and placed the package on a nearby table. He climbed into the chair with L and they pushed and elbowed around, until Light managed to slip underneath and pulled L onto his lap. He turned on the vibrations and began rubbing L's shoulders.

"You're full of tension here," he said, "but you've been using this chair, and it's supposed to relax."

L replied, "You know very well why I'm tense."

But sitting on Light's lap was soothing. L realized that the cuddling urge had been rising again, without him truly noticing it, and that this much touching would buy him some time until the next emergency.

Light said, "The video of the others has arrived. You can watch it whenever you want."

"Good, I will be spending plenty of time studying it."

He wanted to be despondent and sulking, but instead he found himself infused with a warm, glowing feeling. Light's presence was comforting. He remembered how Light's fingers had felt, how quickly he'd opened up to accept them, and a heat started gathering in his butt, just where he was sitting on Light.

Light said, "This is a great room to fuck in. I could cover you in massage oil, and, inside you, I can use any type of lube you want."

He had an urge to simply give in, to ask for more finger-fucking at the least, to perhaps even allow Light to bend him over one of the many suitable pieces of furniture and thrust wildly, Misa or no Misa. Instead, he sat quietly, enjoying the feeling of Light's body being close.

It was a different sensation of intimacy than with Misa. She was warm and cuddly and very feminine, easy to relax with and to give in to completely, but Light was slightly dangerous, decidedly masculine, inspiring a sense of rivalry and competition. L wanted to hurt Light in some way, to watch him lose, and he remembered with relish the time he'd sat on top of a very aroused Light and licked the red chain-impressions around his neck.

That was how it should be with Light, something dangerous and forbidden and twisted, the result of a struggle. An idea began forming in L's mind, a way to trick Light, and he found himself grinning.

It would need to be drawn out a bit and scheduled carefully, to avoid Light catching on, not like the attempts to seduce Misa, which needed to be crude and in the open because it was best for the attempts to be relentless.

No, this plan would take some finesse.

Light did try to get a bit handsy, and L allowed it, up to the point where it was clear it was going nowhere, and then he slapped Light's hands away and spent most of the rest of the day by himself.

L feigned to be less horny than he actually was, studied the videotape proving that everyone else was alive and compared it to the actual news, engaged in various forms of entertainment, spent a lot of time leaning out of windows and hoping he might accidentally slip at some point, spied on a mysterious invisible presence eating an apple that had to be the seldom-mentioned second shinigami, and thoroughly catalogued every single item in the building, memorizing them for later use.

He even cracked his way into the high-security areas and locked store-rooms. There was nothing particularly valuable or useful. He checked every room for hidden cameras and found none. He pick-pocketed Light and Misa, and did not manage to get anything other than lube, pens and make-up. They were being vigilant about not taking their cellphones into the building, storing them in a special outdoor shed that was locked.

He ended the day back in bed with Light and Misa, not having achieved any orgasms all day long, but feeling strangely comfortable in his new life all the same. Something about it felt very right, as if he'd been working up to this very situation as the culmination of his career, and had now achieved that goal.

He suspected that he'd been controlled to like it so much, but there were undeniably attractive elements about it that might have been that way without any extra help from a death note.

It was nice to have friendly relationships with people other than Watari, and to be the object of sexual desires for a very beautiful man and woman, and to have the immense relief of those round-the-clock work burdens lifted for the first time in years.

Over the next two days, he pretended to be doing nothing other than trying to screw Misa, in order to put Light off-guard and result in him actually leaving without immediately doubling back. L was able, as far as he knew, to convince Light that nothing else was going on, and to get him entirely away for hours at a time.

The third time that Light went away and L thought he was truly gone, L investigated in every way he could one of the music listening devices from a cupboard in the main entertainment room. It didn't have a true internet connection, as he'd suspected, and he had doubts about his ability to contact anyone with pertinent information even if it had possessed one, but there was one thing that Light had perhaps not thought of.

Just to be sure, L spent plenty of time with the device's headphones plugged into his ears, downloading and listening to all sorts of songs, audio books, speeches and pod casts. Perhaps at first Light would check the download history, which must appear on a bill somewhere even if nowhere else, but with the continued innocuous use of the device it should become tedious for Light to keep track of every item downloaded.

Even so, just to be truly cautious, L waited a week until downloading what he truly wanted, and re-named the file as soon as he had.

It was a self-hypnosis audio, one that promised to create an orgasm through the mind alone for most users.

Waiting to use it was difficult, with Light and Misa both having erratic schedules, but at last they were both gone and L hoped he'd have at least an hour. The audio recording was forty-five minutes long.

L found a cozy room, dimmed the lights, and stretched out on a large, comfortable sofa, anticipation running through his body. This was it, a chance to truly thwart Light's control in sexual matters, to achieve secret orgasms against Light's orders. It was deliciously naughty just to think about it.

But they deserved this subversion of their desires. L's nerves were worn raw from chasing Misa and teasing her, sometimes bringing her to climax with no real relief for himself, and from experiencing Light and Misa fucking in bed nearly every night beside him, around him, or on top of him.

The self-hypnosis audio represented sweet, sweet payback.

He eased his breathing, slowing it, taking big breaths and getting into a mild meditation state. When he felt that familiar drifting sensation, he closed his eyes and began playing the recording.

A smooth-toned male voice spoke to him gently, a droning, comforting voice taking him through a series of mental relaxation exercises, with only the slightest sexual insinuations at first and then, deeper, deeper, and there was almost no awareness of the room and the voice was suggesting things that brought a radiating heat to between his legs.

L spread his legs and the feeling got stronger, his erection beginning to rise as the voice talked him through every step of the process, suggesting how he should react, how he should feel, and his body responded marvelously to each suggestion, the voice magical, leading him on, exploring the pleasure. His penis was full, throbbing, straining upward against his clothing, every tiniest bodily shift bringing a jolt to it.

He felt almost as if he were being touched, but not really, as if a ghost-hand that was more imagination than real were jacking him off, slowly, leisurely. There was no time pressure, simply that encouraging voice in his ear and the increasing arousal, more and more, feeling oddly like the ramp-up leading to orgasm.

Without touching, he was falling into the pattern, ready for release, back arching, thrusting up into nothingness, gasping, wanting, feeling that warm throbbing sensation and then at last the rise of that feeling of inevitability right at the base of his penis. He would come. He knew it. No stopping it now.

But the tension within stayed at that raw edge of release too long. Writhing, he tried to feel more, to go that last little bit. It wasn't happening.

He sobbed into the pillows and tried to relax again, to recapture the magic of that smooth voice, and he was drawn into it almost effortlessly, falling under the spell, excitement rising. Almost there... almost... almost... he rubbed his thighs, wanting to touch, to grasp his penis firmly and bring himself to climax. It wouldn't take much, but he couldn't do it.

His entire body was like a stringed instrument, strings wound tightly and ready to play, but he couldn't touch. Rather, it was like the frustration portion of a wet dream, immersed fully in a state of strong arousal, but no release. No, no release at all.

Panting, he began coming out of the deep state he'd been in, and realized the voice was gone. He checked the player, and saw the self-hypnosis audio had played completely.

_This is not good. But, I won't lose. This does work for people, so it will work for me. Orgasms happen in the brain, not the genitals._

L got a drink of water, rubbed all his limbs briskly, and then lay down to try again. If anything, it was easier to fall under the spell the second time. He was deeper, certainly more hypnotized, aware of almost nothing except his body, which was hyper-sensitive all over, throbbing and begging for relief.

Every movement, every breath, he was drowning in arousal, completely immersed, chasing that ultimate peak, getting close to it, right to the shuddering edge. It was inevitable, unavoidable. It would happen, his body urged on and on.

And it just barely slipped away, again and again and then eventually the voice stopped talking.

L lay there in the dim light, panting hard. His penis was a sharp point of pleasure between his legs, almost unbearably aroused. His stubbornness urged him to try again, but his intellect urged him to think. He assumed his best thinking position, crouched with his knees clutched to his chest, and allowed his thoughts to flow freely.

It was not long until a most intriguing thought occurred to him, and he set out to achieve it.

He wandered around until he found Light, home once more, relaxing in front of the news. Light turned off the television as soon as L entered. L tried to strike a sultry pose and said, "Light, I'm horny."

"Are you willing to fulfill our bargain? I can call Misa home."

"No," L said, "I want to make out with you alone. I'd like to start with kissing. It's okay if I don't know how far I might go, isn't it?"

As expected, Light began looking incredibly smug and agreed. They quickly found their way to that same sofa, that was conveniently wide enough for two bodies to lie side-by-side, and L stretched out on it, coaxing Light forward with sultry looks.

Light slipped into place, facing him.

"Don't you want to stop listening to that?" Light asked.

"No, I won't stop. Whatever I need to calm myself is good for our relationship, if I'm expected to accept you as a lover. Don't you agree, Light?"

Light looked for a moment as if he might suspect something, but then the expression was gone and Light merely blinked, saying, "It's fine with me."

"Let's see," L said, and adjusted himself, seeking the right position, slipping a leg between Light's legs, and then deftly hooking behind his knee, tucking their legs together tightly, creating that feeling of closeness, almost interlaced. Everywhere from their thighs on up was just inches apart or less, a span that body heat was already crossing.

"Why now?" Light asked.

L shut him up with a kiss, and at the same moment surreptitiously turned on the audio recording. At once the anonymous voice started pulling him in as he tasted Light, soft lips moving against his, and just a flicker of tongue from time to time.

It was less mechanical than the emergency cuddling sessions, more organic, no rush to fit Light's body as closely as possible merely to fulfill some instructions written on a death note paper somewhere.

No, this was by choice, every moment full of possibilities, of different ways that the progress could go. Light was there to be savored, tasted, used. Light's face had that deceptively innocent look it sometimes had, the one that consistently fooled almost everyone. It was very wide-eyed and fresh, the face of a pretty schoolboy.

The world was narrowing down to little more than a keen awareness of Light. Everything was happening faster with Light's warm, close body spurring on L's arousal, provoking him, pushing him to better heights. He couldn't have imagined before that only kissing could be this good.

Light's eyes were half-closed, lustful, his arm drifting across the gap to settle on L, cradling his hip.

L muttered, "You're very persuasive," and he didn't know if he was talking to Light or to that anonymous male voice droning hypnotically in his ear, though somehow those two were perhaps the same, merged together in this magical space outside of reality.

The pent-up feelings were rising, rising with a force that surprised L. He was completely hard, panting softly, making tiny thrusts and believing that he could almost, almost reach relief without Light. His penis was immensely heavy, a swollen weight tugging on him with every shift of his hips, a heated pleasure that was almost pain, the room long since dissolved into abstractions.

In a voice that didn't quite sound like his own, L said, "Touch me, right here. I need..."

He couldn't finish his sentence. The sensations were too immediate, too strong, driving out words from his mind and he wanted, wanted, wanted and then Light's hand was reaching in, right into the boxers. Contact was a jolt, warm fingers curling around, and at that instant L let out a loud cry and began releasing in one of the most explosive orgasms he'd ever had in his life.

Time was a single moment only. He couldn't hear or think; everything was experience, pulsating pleasure, that slippery release pouring out of him, immense quantities. Tension had turned to pure, shivering white-hot ecstasy and his system was flushed free of it all.

He wriggled slightly, wriggled, spurting still, time stretched out but beginning to flow again, distant sounds starting to impinge, thoughts forming sluggishly, the world becoming clearer, blinking to see the huge amount of white mess all over Light's hand and everything, and Light's incredulous face.

"How... how did you do that? I just touched you, only a touch, a few seconds."

L tapped his forehead and said, "It's not difficult if you use your brain. Besides, you underestimate how sexually attractive you are."

"Even Misa doesn't come that fast."

Light reached out possessively and L pulled back, rolling off the sofa and eluding Light's grasp.

"I'm satisfied," L said, "if you want more, Light, you'll have to wait, or strike a bargain."

L sat up on the floor. He was still woozy and out of sorts. The room felt vaguely unreal, and a buzzing, lazy warmth filled his entire body. The voice was still speaking in his ears, trying to hypnotize him, and he managed to switch it off.

Light was sitting on the sofa, staring down suspiciously.

"That was extremely pleasant," L said, as he staggered to his feet, "we should do that again some time."

He had a feeling Light knew everything, and so he made himself very blank and tried to wander out of the room nonchalantly.

Instead of it working, Light was suddenly standing in front of him and grabbing for the music listening device. L stood there passively while Light scrolled through it and found the correct file surprisingly fast.

Light listened to it a little while, and then smiled an evil smile.

"I'm taking this away from you, L. You've been abusing your entertainment privileges."

"You're a tyrant, Light."

"I'm helping you get over your stubbornness."

"I can wait."

"You're not going to succeed with Misa alone."

L stared Light down, pulling himself up to his full height to do so. "I said I can wait. You gave me a marvelous orgasm, Light. I'm sure the satisfaction will last me a long time."

It was a long wait.

In a couple weeks, Light's birthday arrived, with a big celebration that thankfully included one blow job jointly performed by Light and Misa, but then things went back to the usual schedule.

L schemed in numerous ways, sexually and non-sexually. He did eventually manage to snag a few cellphones, but he couldn't do anything. Light had seemingly thought of how to block every loophole.

Even the invisible shinigami, a being L had hoped to manipulate to his favor, wasn't any help and seemed to be a complete buffoon. L's careful cataloguing of little bits of information about it amounted to nothing useful in the end, just the being's name, Ryuk, and a knowledge that it liked apples.

L couldn't bribe Ryuk. Light controlled the apple supply too well, and stored some of it out of L's control, but within Ryuk's range. Apparently Light had bribed Ryuk to be non-communicative, because the shinigami wouldn't even write messages.

Approximately every day, L cuddled Light, Misa or both, and he brought Misa to many orgasms with his hands and his tongue. Every night, he slept in their bed, between them, craving the contact and often seeing, hearing and feeling them fucking right there.

The remaining resistance to Light's suggestion began to seem rather pointless.

It did feel good to have fingers in there. Light's penis wasn't terribly wide.

One night, L lay in the darkness, listening to the soft, even breathing on either side of himself and sorting through his own urges and motivations.

_Perhaps withholding is the only way I'm still able to strike at Kira, so I childishly punish Light with this method._

_It's only a sexual relationship. It wouldn't mean that I'm agreeing with Kira's policies. Giving in sexually would ease pressure, probably make my mind clearer, and it's what I truly want._

L imagined it, performing a thought experiment just to be sure and trying to withold all judgment.

It made him happy.

Decision made, he reached for their shoulders, shaking them awake.

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

The hypnosis audio recording that makes people orgasm is a real thing. There are a number of such recordings available on the internet, and the comments about them indicate that they do seem to work for most people.

I was inspired to write this scene by an old request mentioning hypnosis audio on the Death Note kink meme, and I'll probably soon place a re-written version of this scene under that prompt (re-written because the prompt had specific requests that this scene here doesn't meet, because I felt this fanfic needed to go in a different direction).


	9. Conquered

**CHAPTER 8: Conquered**

They weren't quite responsive at first, so he rubbed his body along theirs, pulling them both closer so he was wedged between, his hands unlacing the rather elaborate lingerie Misa had fallen asleep in.

Light stirred awake first and mumbled, "What?"

Then Light seemed to sense something was different and his eyes went wide.

Without stopping his work, L said, "I get as much penetration as I allow, isn't that the deal? Give me an inch or two."

Misa rolled over, smiling mischievously. "Are we going to do him now, Light?"

"Yes, Misa."

They were pressing close on both sides, Misa in front and Light behind, pulling his clothes away. Every bit of exposure made him shiver in anticipation. It was a warm, comforting nest of blankets and tangled limbs and increasingly bare skin on everyone.

The need was urgent and yet lazy, satisfied, a deep knowing that _this time _there would be true release. He was terribly, terribly erect, arched upward, demanding, and yet all his limbs were languid. He felt as if he might merge blissfully into Light and Misa at any moment.

Passive, he let them roll him onto his side and then gasped as he felt Light's slick finger penetrate him from behind. It was that same incredibly strange feeling mixed with pleasure, the strangeness gradually giving way as the good feelings built up, and more lube was added, and another finger, and a third.

Misa moved to plunge under the covers, but Light stopped her by saying, "Not yet. Wait until I'm in him before sucking."

L had the feeling that they'd planned all this out in advance, like Misa's pseudo-seduction it was an elaborate collection of moves that had been scripted out ahead of time. And now, now, he was entering that dance, his body ready to be played upon and owned, brought to pleasure.

L nibbled on his finger as he felt Light maneuvering behind him, almost at that moment of penetration, a very profound new act. Light's penis was firm and warm, sliding to within his butt-cheeks, nestling against the target where fingers were still working inside, and them the fingers were removed and, almost too suddenly to believe, Light's dick was a little distance inside.

The pressure was wonderful. It felt right there. Light stayed in place, stationary, and Misa completed her act of diving under the covers and her soft, eager mouth was sucking, sucking, just on the tip.

He wanted to be fucked deeply inside, but he resisted giving Light that permission. Instead, he whimpered as Light's two hands each moved to one shaft, one behind to stroke the part of Light's penis that wasn't buried, and one in front to slickly grasp the part of L's penis that Misa wasn't sucking.

The sensations were everywhere. In front, behind, strong sucking and relentless stroking and that hard, stationary penetration putting so much pressure against exactly the right spot.

Thoughts of the past and the future were put aside, and then it was nothing more than two beautiful people servicing him, doing what he wanted, letting his body respond genuinely. More of the heat was building up behind, an urge to be flung down and used furiously. Images of Light taking him overwhelmed his brain as his penis swelled and swelled under Misa's inviting mouth and Light's skilled hand.

"Almost there," Light breathed.

L understood at once. It was going to be together, a mutual climax. Light would hold back until the right moment. L closed his eyes and gave himself completely to it, sensing the building rush, this time not to be denied.

Misa's tongue and her mouth... and he was struggling harder to shove a bit deeper into it as Light stroked, stroked, stroked and it was bringing him there, a blossoming of pleasure, intense bliss expanding outward and the continuing stimulation was almost too much but it was bringing the climax even higher as he released, screaming, letting his voice out with no shame.

And it was beautiful, wonderful, and with a moan Light was coming too, inside, sticky and cozy... L wanted Light, he wanted him.

Misa's mouth removed with a popping sound.

With an embarrassed thrill, L realized he liked the warm rush of slipperiness inside, the intimate feeling of it. Even as Light pulled away and the semen seeped out, L didn't think of it as a mess to be cleaned, a chore. No, it was Light's own sexual essence, evidence of Light's climax, and it felt right that L should have that evidence inside him and smeared on the outside as well.

He felt merged with them, his body put into a state of deep relaxation, almost like meditation. Misa surfaced from under the covers, wiped her lips and kissed him. There was only the slightest taste of himself still on her lips and he didn't mind at all. It mingled with her cherry lip gloss wonderfully.

Light, panting, snuggled close and said, "We've been talking about your resistance. If you're not sure about letting me fuck you all the way, it might help if Misa fucked you first."

L said, "That's what I've been saying all along," before he abruptly understood and added, "Oh! You mean-"

"That's right. Misa, get the strap-on."

Misa said, "Yes, Kira!," and scampered out of the room.

The idea of Misa with a strap-on was fairly intriguing. L knew he needed to see it, even if the procedure never went further, but... it probably would. Anal stimulation did feel incredibly good, and to be fucked by Misa... it was seeming like a better idea with every passing moment.

By the time Misa returned, L was already half-hard again.

She entered the bedroom slowly and dramatically, wearing nothing but it.

It looked surprisingly suitable on her. The harness was made of black, soft cloth and was almost exactly the same shape and contours as a particularly skimpy piece of underwear might be, and the dildo was small, neon-pink, and cute, looking more like a large, stylized thumb than a penis. The dildo was longer than a thumb, though, and wider, but not by a huge margin.

It was certainly smaller than Light's penis, a good intermediate size to be opened up by. L didn't feel at all threatened by it. He only felt a rush of anticipation as he spread his legs and Misa settled on the bed between them, drizzling a generous portion of lube all over the pink dildo and rubbing it around to slick every part of its surface.

He moaned when she penetrated him, and pushed back with his internal muscles, which only made the object slip deeper, satisfyingly deeper, and he thought then that _this_ was what it was like to be fucked, to be well and truly fucked, receiving that kind of internal pleasure that was so different from having his penis stimulated.

L opened up to it, needing a rhythm and getting it, tension flowing through his body, building, and he reached up to catch her swinging breasts, groping them while receiving her deep inside, riding higher and he wanted Light to suck him at the same time but Light was suddenly behind Misa, doing something unseen, making her moan and falter in her thrusts.

Light wrapped his arms around Misa and pulled her away, the dildo withdrawn from L, leaving behind a feeling of not being filled, of that missing internal rubbing.

"I'm in her back end," Light said, "Do you want her front?"

L nodded helplessly, drawn by his instincts close to the rutting pair. Misa was on Light's lap and Light was using muscular arm motions to move Misa's entire body up and down, impaling her repeatedly. L investigated where he couldn't quite see, crouched in front of them, tracing with his fingers, locating the place where the harness split for easy entry of either hole, like a crotch-less panty.

Her vagina was moist and dripping, sucking in L's fingers at the first attempt. He quickly moved to position himself in front of them both, imitating Light's stance so they both could lift up her body between them, and then on the next down-movement Misa settled over them both.

It was a goal, an accomplishment, to sink into Misa all the way, fully seated within her. Moist folds cradled the base of his shaft and he could feel every intimate detail of Light's crotch, from his tight, drawn-up balls to his stiff rod, only separated by a thin wall of internal membrane. It was like feeling someone's dick through a condom.

As Misa was hoisted up again and once more plunged down, there was a feeling of being very close to Light, sharing a woman with him, stretching her together, filling both her holes, making her squirm and squirm and come hard, shuddering between them.

Misa gasped out, "Kira... ah, Kira... L," at her orgasm.

"Fuck him, Misa," Light commanded, "push him onto his back."

L didn't resist. All resistance was gone and he only wanted to be pleasured relentlessly as he fell backwards onto the soft bed, pushed by her, straddled by her.

Light unfastened some snaps on either side of the harness and swept the whole contraption away.

As soon as it was gone, L was being ridden harder than he'd ever been ridden in his life. She was fierce, a tiny Amazon, a temptress, and his hips surged upward, arching his back to meet her thrusts, increasing the intensity.

It wasn't quite enough. There was still an empty feeling inside and Light seemed to know it, or perhaps he'd set it up specifically this way to begin with, and Light, with a glimmer in his eye, said, "Is it okay if I switch from Misa to you?"

L nodded, and then suddenly _it_ was pushing into him, pushing in and in, further than before, settling deeply, filling completely, and it was simply so right, so good, the perfect answer to his craving.

Light was moving, moving inside, harder, thrusting, and L was trapped between the two bodies, enfolded, pleasured in every way, two rhythms beating in a complex harmony, almost losing track of it all as everything, everything was happening and the wave of pleasure was bigger this time, ascending sharply, irresistible.

Every part of him had given in to the moment, to instinct, to slick movements and bodies moving together, warmth punctuated by jolts of heat, and to the feeling of almost having two orgasms at once, one deep inside where Light was working furiously, and another centered in his penis, the more familiar sensation of everything rushing up his shaft and emptying. He finished his climax sobbing and crying out, unaware of whether he'd said gibberish or sensible words.

Moments later, Light was coming too, his face beautiful, haughty, but unguarded, showing everything, surrendering control.

L kissed her. Light was too far back, out of reach, but he wanted to kiss him too. His body was too lazy to move out of position.

Happiness flooded him, overflowing.

_I'm in love._

It wasn't as frightening a thought as he would have expected. The two Kiras really were admirable in certain ways. Somehow, it was going to work out. He knew it. Every problem had always yielded to his mind, and this was no exception.

He was limp and exhausted in a good way, lazily allowing them to clean him with warm damp cloths, letting them dress him. He coaxed gentle kisses from both. The battle was over, the path to satisfaction clear. L knew they would fuck him again and again, no more holding back ever again.

He fell asleep between their two bodies, feeling more fulfilled than he had felt in years.

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

Well, most of this chapter was written while I was very ill and facing a deadline only three days away. I did my best, and then of course there was after-editing, but I fear that perhaps something might be lacking from it because I was so out of it while writing. Or maybe it will be of a different tone than the rest of the work. Hopefully, I've got it fitted in seamlessly.


	10. Decided

**CHAPTER 9: Decided**

L woke up later than his usual waking time. The sun was already risen, painting a golden glow on the opposite side of the shades.

He was intertwined with his two lovers. He felt happy, but he distrusted the happiness. His feelings had been partially hijacked, he knew, and so he couldn't be sure if any particular feeling was truly his own or not.

_My lovers. They are a couple of murderers! What will I do with them?_

It was so satisfying to be with them, though. Not just sexually, but socially. Everything about the situation felt right. L craved the touch of their soft, warm bodies, tangled with his own. He liked living with them. It was very domestic.

_It feels right because Light made me this way. No, that isn't correct either. I'm trying to blame Light, but the truth is that I might have chosen them to be my lovers of my own free will, if neither of them had turned out to be Kira. It is only this circumstance forming an obstacle. _

_I wasn't heterosexual enough to completely preclude the possibility of being attracted to Light. Their personalities are fine except where they've been damaged by their crimes, the sex is great, and so is the companionship. _

_Misa is a little bit too loud and hyperactive for my tastes, but it is not bad enough to be the sort of thing that I can't put up with or work around._

Misa murmured in her sleep. L wanted to kiss her. The light was painting the room with dim golden tones, highlighting her hair in places with a bright blaze.

_What will I do with them? _

_I'll do exactly what I always do with murderers. I'll protect the world from them. I am justice._

Both of the Kiras were stirring, becoming a bit more wakeful. L kept his body very still, to not disturb them, and even tried to breathe more softly, as he turned over everything in his mind and examined it again. There were really only two things to do, the same two options that had been there ever since they had taken him out of his imprisonment.

There was the option of going along with things in a deceptive way, pretending to be obedient while testing for any loophole and ultimately planning to burn both the notebooks.

Light would have tried hard to think of every way of control to prevent that course of action, but it was not impossible that there would still be a method to get around Light's control. It might be a very subtle and complex loophole that could only be grasped in unusual circumstances. Then, once the notebooks were burned, the world would be saved and Light and Misa would both become normal. There would be a lifetime of enjoying the two of them.

The other option was going along with their plan genuinely.

Either choice had Light and Misa remaining as his lovers and companions. It was unthinkable any other way. That much was satisfying; it lifted the pressure. It wasn't a question of harming his lovers. It was only a question of whether Kira would reign over the world or not.

Would Light lose his memories if both death notes were burned? It seemed logical, since Light's memories somehow resided in those notebooks. That would make the after-effects of one path easier to deal with, if the obstacles to burning those notebooks could be surmounted first.

L made his way to breakfast alone, thinking deeply, trying to cover every possibility. The decision was unbelievably momentous. It had been weighing on him all along, the facts lined up in front of him, the presumed consequences sorted through many times before, but the world deserved the most thorough evaluation possible.

L played with his food and said little even as the others joined him. He fled soon after finishing, choosing to sit near the door to the main entrance, the door flung wide so he could crouch there and stare out of it, at the wide world that had been changed by Light tyrannically and might be changed far more.

A cup of tea sat in a saucer near his right foot and he sipped it from time to time, contemplative. The day was not cold, and in a few places the first green buds of the new spring were beginning to show on tree branches.

The answer settled into him slowly.

Light could not be trusted unless he was willing to crack his facade, to give up control. That would be the test. Anything else was unacceptable.

L waited.

Eventually, Light wandered down to the entryway, Misa not far behind him, and said, "What are you doing here, L?"

"I'm listening to the world. I'm watching it. Should Light Yagami control this world? The question is still open."

Light sighed, leaning against the wall in his immaculate suit, and said, "I'm going to give people all the choices they can possibly have, other than committing major crimes. I'm not going to control the world politically, or in any other way that doesn't relate to crime. Though, if people can't kill each other, there won't be any wars. I need to utilize your intelligence; you're going to have just as much influence as I do, within my plan, once you decide to help."

Misa said, "Yeah. Better hurry up, crimes are happening every day!"

L took a long sip of tea, looking the pair over, considering that _this_ was what might control the world. Three odd youngsters, all with their own problems and weaknesses.

The pair drifted closer to where L was crouched, almost in the doorway.

L quietly said, "I haven't decided yet, or I would be able to simply step outside by my own power. Light, what function do I perform for you, other than sexually or as a companion?"

"You're a genius, L. Nobody else could even come close to matching me, to challenging me. You're completely suited to helping me with this."

"I can assure you, there are other comparatively intelligent people out there, including those with a better moral compass than mine. Tell me, Light, am I your anchor? Do I ground you? Am I the one who will prevent you from ascending forever higher into your own madness and feelings of self-importance?"

Light flinched and then said, "I can never imagine that you'll sugar-coat anything for my benefit. You won't scrape and bow, but I don't want you that way. You wouldn't be _you_ if you weren't abrasive and... yes, balancing. We make a great team. Even you admit that."

"Then I've decided. Let me show you something."

L stood up.

Light asked, "What are you going to show me?"

L mounted Light's back, earning a grunt.

L said, "This. Pull my legs up. I want to ride piggy-back. You can carry me outside, can't you? That's a loophole."

Light didn't cooperate. His arms hung loose at his sides and he swayed under the weight as L scrabbled for a secure perch.

Light said, "Why would I? You could walk outside yourself if you just decide that you're not going to betray us. When you're sure, you can come and go freely."

"Haven't you seen those motivational posters that say, 'If you love something, let it go. If it returns, it is yours. If it doesn't, it never was.'?"

"You're trying to convince me with appeals to emotion?"

"You did the same," L said, "when you couldn't remember you were Kira. You always said things like 'You don't think I'm the kind of person to be Kira, do you?' and then punched me if I said yes, instead of using any logic to deflect suspicion."

Light said, "That was because I knew there were some extremely suspicious circumstances pointing at me. I didn't have much logic to stand on, considering all the bizarre coincidences that would have needed to have happened in order for me to not be Kira."

"Your father and the others didn't see it that way."

"Well, that's because they don't think the way we do. I knew I had no chance of convincing _you_ that I wasn't suspicious."

L slipped and tried to mount once more, his knees grasping for purchase on Light's hips.

"No," Light said, "you're not going outside. Now get down. You're heavy."

L clung to the unsteady platform of Light's back and shoulders and said, "You know how stubborn I am. I could easily stay here for many years and require extensive baby-sitting, which would slow down your plans. If I'm going to join you, it isn't going to be because you exerted pressure on me. I need to make this decision myself. You've already limited me from the worst forms of betrayal. You know that you're not going to die or be immediately arrested if you carry me out that door. True, it is a risk for you, that I might decide to not help you with the Kira scheme, but it is a risk you need to take."

"You're saying that if you join our side whole-heartedly, it will make a big difference, and that's worth the risk?"

"Yes," L said, "I'm saying exactly that. If you don't let me go, I promise you it will take at least years to convince me, and while I'm stuck here, I can become far more disruptive. In fact, I would have to become disruptive whether I planned to or not, because my boredom would drive me into it."

Light grunted, and shrugged L free to turn around and stare. L tried to mount again, but Light deflected it, sighed, and then said, "Misa, take his legs. I'll take his arms. We're carrying him outside."

"What? But what about your plans, Light?"

Light looked cross and said, "L is right. It's worth the risk, and he can't really harm us anyway. We have to let him go."

Misa approached, and in moments L was slung between them, Light carrying him by the arms and Misa struggling with both legs. Wobbily, they approached the threshold and L found his heart leaping for joy as he was carried over it, into the bright morning chill.

Misa dropped her end and said, "Ugh! I'll get a coat!"

As she went back in, L called out, "Bring Rem too!"

Light said, "Why?"

"Because I'm going to travel somewhere privately to talk with Rem. Depending on what she tells me, I will decide whether to support your scheme or not."

Light looked surprised and said, "Rem is bound to me. She has a limit. You hadn't figured this out?"

"I suspected it, but there was no confirmation. Then, order a car. It's a long drive. When the time comes, I'll leave you where I can watch you, but where you can't hear me."

Light took out his cellphone, ordered a limo, and didn't speak again until they were well along on the trip, beginning to exit Tokyo.

"I didn't recognize that address you gave the driver. It's between towns; is it a farm?"

"No. It is my grandmother's house."

Light looked startled. "I'm going to meet her?"

"She is deceased. I purchased her place some years ago for nostalgia's sake. It is isolated and a housekeeper arrives once a week to clean. Today, we will not be disturbed."

"Are you half-Japanese or a fourth?"

"One-fourth."

"I thought so, just from your looks. I couldn't find any records with your name."

_As it should be. Everything has been erased._

L said, "My parents died when I was four. I barely remember them. I then lived in the house we are going to, until that grandmother died, when I was seven. I was sent to England to live with my other grandmother, who died when I was eight."

"That must have been difficult."

"It was a long time ago."

"Why are we going there now?"

L nibbled on a finger. "It's my very best place to think."

Silence settled over them, and eventually the driver turned on to a long, narrow, winding road, traversing up a mountainside with numerous switchbacks. Forest pressed thickly on both sides. Very few trees had leaves, but many were showing hints of spring, sprinkled with pale green buds.

Eventually the driver turned off on an almost-hidden driveway. Waves of nostalgia were washing over L, every bend and every rock enormously familiar.

The driver let them out in front of the house, but instead of going in, L skirted around and took a familiar stone-lined path. Light soon joined him and Rem soared overhead.

L stopped in a small clearing where there was a large, flat-topped boulder. He pointed at it and said, "Climb on that, Light. Stay here until I get you."

"Ah! There's snow!"

L said, "You can find a dry spot, or endure it. This is our bargain."

"Where are you going?"

"Up. There is a place where I can observe you, without being easily observed myself."

Light looked up-slope, and L was sure his gaze had picked out the correct feature immediately, another large boulder. Without waiting, L started up, breaking directly through the brush. There wasn't any easy path without going far around, and he was getting impatient.

Rem followed him with soft, slow flaps, and as he reached his destination and used the well-remembered hand-holds and foot-holds to climb up, she simply flew to the top. This boulder was on a sunnier slope, with no pockets of snow in its recesses. L fixed his eyes on Light's distant form below and crouched, nibbling on a finger. The best sort of thinking atmosphere was at once creeping over him.

L said, "They did it to themselves, didn't they? That was the purpose of depriving Light of his memories briefly. They recruited a Kira follower to make the deal for the eyes and then to look at Light's lifespan during the only time it could be visible. Am I correct?"

After a moment, Rem said, "Yes. They have both taken one day off their own lifespans. Otherwise, when this plan begins to work, it would be possible that someone might have thought of killing them. This makes them forever immune to death notes. They also wrote very pleasant deaths for themselves."

"Rem, do you only care for Misa, or do you care for Light as well?"

"I love Misa deeply. I have come to like Light."

"What do you think Misa and Light feel for me?"

"They do care for you, L Lawliet. Light could have left your intelligence intact but given you no choice in the matter, if he so wished."

"I know. That is a point in Kira's favor, but I still must decide according to what is best for the world. Rem, do you care about humans? In general, I mean?"

Rem replied, "Most of them are despicable creatures. I would not be bothered if they died."

L prodded at a lower lip, the chill mountain air making his head very clear, his thinking ultra-sharp. It was now time to ask the most important question.

"Rem, I assume that, caring deeply for Misa, you must also wish to uphold her happiness and her desires. Misa wants a beautiful world where humans have good lives. She has sacrificed much to get this world. For her sake, in honor of her work and her memory, you should wish that the world of humans does not become something terrible."

"You are trying to get me to betray Light?"

"No," L said, "not really. I am attempting to sort out some very complex issues. I want the outcome that Misa wants. The only disagreement is in the methods. What Light plans for the world is extremely dangerous."

Rem said, "Why? I don't understand."

L explained, "If the ways that humans are prevented from committing violent crimes were defined too broadly, then humans who are passive-aggressive in an intelligent enough way could turn everyone else into their slaves. It if were defined too narrowly, people who figured out the exact loopholes that would enable them to side-step the rules could rampage violently against a largely helpless populace. There could easily be issues with invasion of privacy, the ability to act in self-defense, and also there is the specter of unintended negative consequences that even the most intelligent of us can't anticipate beforehand."

On his own boulder, Light was shifting back and forth, trying to locate or create a dry spot he could sit on.

Rem said, "I believe Light's plan could go wrong, but isn't it better to try? This is a corrupt and horrible world."

"Trying to do good is a great start, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Light's plan started with murders. It was sullied from the very beginning. That's a bad sign, to start a utopia with murders. Even now, it is technically still murdering, if only by one day, and it deprives people of their free wills, at least in the area of serious criminal activity."

Rem was silent.

L said, "It seems inappropriate that myself, Light and Misa should preside over the entire world in this way. Our intelligence matters only so far. This is a situation where the slightest misstep in ethics could send the world into a nightmarish slavery. Do you understand?"

"I believe I do understand, but what alternatives are there? Only quitting now, and that would be cowardly."

"Rem, how long is this likely to last?"

Rem repeated, "How long?"

L said, "If the world ever becomes full of people who can no longer be killed by death notes because their date of death has already been written in one, every shinigami will become short on lifespan and the shinigami king will notice, probably putting an end to it all. How long would that be?"

Rem's bony shoulders moved in a shrug.

She said, "Judging from past events, it might be a thousand years."

L said, "Then, if Light's plan works, humanity could have a golden age like nothing that has ever existed, lasting perhaps a thousand years! This is something that requires serious consideration."

"Are you truly considering it, L Lawliet? Or are you only trying to manipulate me in some way?"

L honestly said, "A little of both, actually. You see, although what Light wishes is dangerous for the world, I doubt that I can personally stop it without creating an even greater risk. Light may have indeed controlled me in such a way that I can never sabotage the Kira scheme, or there might be a loophole. Yet, even if there is a loophole that I could someday discover and utilize, I estimate that any attempt would be much more likely to be a partial success instead of a complete success."

"A partial success is very bad?"

_Really, you can't figure out that much, Rem?_

L explained, "If I were to try to stop Light and only succeeded partway, then I wouldn't have actually stopped him, but I most likely would have made his operation visible to other parties. These other parties then would be likely to attempt to grab power for themselves. Light's plan is rather harmless in comparison to any power-hungry person or organization that would try to steal death notes from him. These other parties would try to dominate others for pleasure alone, force a political agenda, start wars, or do other truly terrible things."

Rem said, "I see. Misa would not want anything like that."

L said, "I would rather not support Kira, but I don't have much choice in this situation. I'm not willing to expose the entire world to tremendous risks simply in order to enforce my principles, my beliefs about free will. I have encountered many criminals in my life, many serial killers. Light isn't a complete monster. He is as good as it is possible to be while still killing so many people."

"What you are trying to say, is that you love him?"

L paused, surprised at Rem's insight, and then said, "Yes, I love him. I loved him in a way even before he kidnapped me, but I had never let myself think about it in those days."

"Human thinking is very convoluted."

"It is, Rem. I do not believe you truly understand it. That is why Light's plan could go wrong. Human minds are incredibly inventive, resourceful and unpredictable. In trying to control them, we may find that we can't truly control them in the ways we would wish. Then the temptation comes to exert even more control, but that takes people one step closer to being puppets, and perhaps it doesn't fully create the desired result either."

"Aren't these the kinds of problems that you and Light will figure out? It seems to me that you are only thinking of the worst."

"I am thinking of the worst so that I can combat it. Light has promised me an equal partnership, and considering that he could have forced me to be happy with an unequal partnership, I believe he is telling the truth. I will work alongside Light to make sure that humanity is put under the mildest controls possible while still preventing major crimes."

Rem said, "Then you have already made your decision."

L said, "I've made my decision, but you haven't. Rem, _you_ cannot be controlled by what Light writes in a death note, am I correct?"

"This is true. Every shinigami is immune."

L said, "Since I can't risk any attempt to shut down the Kira plan, you are the only real hope. Unlimited, your attempt would not be a partial success. If the world is descending into a worse state than the one it is in now, it's up to you to burn the death notes. This is within your power, is it not?"

"It is within my power."

"Do not say anything to Light. You must be the judge of whether the world is becoming something that Misa would not have wanted. You must be vigilant, always, long after our lifespans run out and others have replaced us. Rem, do you promise?"

She stared and was silent for a long time, her single visible eye unblinking. At last, she said, "Yes, I promise."

He stood up, enjoyed the view for a few more moments, including Light's uncomfortable roost on the other boulder, and then climbed down and descended through the brush again.

When they met up with Light, Rem said, "There is no more problem with L Lawliet."

Light narrowed his eyes and said, "Fine."

He climbed down, wet spots showing on his suit, especially the seat.

L said, "Light, you should cheer up. I've decided to join your side."

"With conditions?"

"No conditions, merely the terms you've offered me all along. Now, since I've decided to accept you completely, I would like to bring you into my grandmother's house. Come on, let's go."

Light looked as if he wanted to be happy, but didn't quite trust enough to be. He trudged along, following behind.

"Rem, what did he ask you?"

Rem replied, "Nothing that I will discuss."

L said, "There's no need to be worried, Light. When we go back to the other place, I'll be able to enter and leave by myself. That alone will prove my decision to you. However, I would like to have some enjoyment here first, a celebration of Kira's new world. I'm sad that only one of my lovers is present. Will you send for Misa?"

Light still looked a little suspicious, but he pulled out his cellphone and made the necessary calls. By the time Light was done, they entered the house, every bit of it full of memories, a strange juxtaposition of the very old and the new in L's life.

Standing in the entryway, L swallowed nervously and said, "Of course, by the time I purchased this, all the furniture and possessions I remember had been sold or re-distributed to relatives. I stocked it again from memory with as many duplicates as I could locate or have manufactured."

Light laughed and said, "You are always extravagant, L. For all this work, how many times did you ever visit?"

"Usually only two or three times a year, but it is worth it. Many people would do the same with their own childhood places, if they could afford it."

To dispel the nervousness, L pulled Light along and said, "You're wet from the snow. Let's get you out of those clothes and into a hot bath."

The sense of having Light, of really having him and not needing to be nervous anymore, started while L was undressing him. Light might be the self-proclaimed "god" of the new world he was creating, but in reality he was just a very human 19-year-old boy, and there was something very great about exploring that human side of Light.

Light shivered a little and then began to truly relax as L settled Light's nude form into a traditional Japanese shower stool and sprayed him all over with the detachable showerhead. The different parts of L's life had come together, and now they were meshing, truly blending, in this secret, intimate place that Light should ordinarily have never been allowed to access.

Afterward, there was a large tub to soak in, and L eased into it alongside Light, chuckling to himself at the thought that Light, once out, would have to choose a set of L's own clothing until his suit dried.

Light tried to start a hand job, and it was good and relaxed and warm, but L pushed him away. He wanted to save some for Misa.

Thoughts of the new world filled his head as he soaked. Rem was correct; he had been focusing on the negative in order to understand the inherent problems and avoid them as best as possible. There was also a tremendous potential for good.

A world where rape, murder and violence did not exist or were extremely rare and happened only according to accidents or elaborate loopholes, that was a world worth fighting for. The fighting would be mostly of the mental gymnastics sort, and L felt that he could find a way to rise to every challenge.

Perhaps an ethics board, consisting of the world's greatest experts in the field, would be created in order to circumvent the issues raised by a mere three people deciding how to control the world.

Drifting along on thoughts, becoming truly excited by the prospect now that there was no longer any reason to fight Light, L didn't even notice Misa entering until she let out a loud squeal.

"L, you've really joined us?"

L put his mouth on the surface of the water and blew some bubbles, then said, "Of course, I'll prove it to you tomorrow. Together, all three of us will create Kira's world."

"Oh yay! I'm so excited! Now everything will be perfect forever!"

"Misa," Light said, "L wants to celebrate his good decision, but he's been reluctant to start without you. Get out of those clothes and jump in! Also, you've got the waterproof lube in your purse, right?"

Misa was already shedding her clothes very fast, but she leaned over to fish the tube of lubricant from her purse, giving L a good view of her bare ass in the process. The heated relaxation was dispelling and quickly being replaced with intense interest, with imaginings of the three of them going at it again.

She tossed the tube to Light and he caught it perfectly. L couldn't wait, he was spreading his legs already, anticipating, and when Light's finger slipped inside he couldn't believe the sensation. It was getting better every time, his ass more responsive, more used to the idea, and by the time Misa was stepping in to join them moments later, Light was already up to three fingers.

L panted, "Light, ah... a little bit after we fuck here, if I send for costumes, would you... uh... be opposed to some role-playing in a kimono?"

Light kissed him and said, "I would love to, L."

* * *

**A/N (Author's Note):**

Well, this is the end, hope you enjoyed it!

Very early in the manga/anime, Light asks Ryuk if there is any time limit to killing; i.e. if he can kill someone right up to when their lifespan runs out. Ryuk says Light can. Later, during the on-campus scene where L meets Misa for the first time, Light thinks about the 23-day rule he's previously discovered, as he plans to get L's name from Misa and control L for 23 days in such a way that L's death won't be suspicious to the investigation team.

If canon had never introduced the 23-day rule (or its later partial work-around using long-term illnesses) then Light could have given up his crusade to kill criminals and replaced it with a crusade to stop all major crimes before they happen. Light would have needed to involve loads and loads of other people, though, entire factories full of writers, and he would have needed to make use of the fact (noted in canon supplementary material) that death notes never run out of pages (i.e. have a machine to endlessly tear out new pages when production reaches a certain scale). Also, it would require a LOT of people with shinigami eyes (try visiting the world population clock sometime to get an idea of how many names would need to be written each minute).

If Light had been able to control anyone up to the end of their lifespan, he also would have had a wide range of choices about how to defeat L, if he could only obtain L's name. L wouldn't have needed to die, he only would have needed to be controlled into being unable to solve the Kira case. I think there is a high chance Light would have chosen to keep L around if he were capable of controlling L like that, both to gloat over him and because the two of them have a deep camaraderie in canon, despite being on opposite sides. There wouldn't need to be a romantic/sexual interest in order to keep L around.

So, yeah, if the 23-day rule didn't exist or could be easily subverted, lots of possibilities open up, including this fanfic.

I've seen some fanfics where L decides to join Kira, but it usually isn't something I can believe unless I imagine that L's personality is different from the canon L. There are a handful of fanfics that manage it, but those are very rare. So, when I decided to have L join Kira, I thought that I needed something extra to give it a chance to be believable. Light replacing his original plan with a (mostly) non-lethal variant, and exerting this fanfic's kind of control over L, works in my mind as a way that L might make this decision.

Okay, so this fanfic IS mostly about kinky sex, but I was also wanting to explore those other ideas at the same time.


	11. Bonus Content

**A/N (Author's Note):**

This bonus is not a continuation of the fic itself. It is a re-written version of a scene from chapter 7 of "Let's All Be Friends Together". I created this second version to fulfill a prompt at the Death Note anonymous kink meme, at dn_kink2 on Livejournal.

I re-wrote it into this version because the original scene in chapter 7 doesn't fulfill two key elements of the prompt: that the character be alone, and that the character orgasms just from the hypnosis. To fix this, I re-wrote the scene to make Light imaginary instead of really there.

So, that's why this is bonus content. It's not really new as long as you've already read chapter 7, and it's not actually part of the storyline of the fanfic proper. It's an AU of a divergent-AU fanfic, and it doesn't really fit in with the canon Death Note timeline either.

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**Bonus Content:**

L found a cozy room, dimmed the lights, and stretched out on a large, comfortable sofa, anticipation running through his body. This was it, a chance to truly thwart Light's control in sexual matters, to achieve secret orgasms against Light's orders. It was deliciously naughty just to think about it.

But they deserved this subversion of their desires, this method of getting around the rules they'd laid down. L's nerves were worn raw from chasing Misa and teasing her, sometimes bringing her to climax with no real relief for himself, and from experiencing Light and Misa fucking in bed nearly every night beside him, around him, or on top of him.

The self-hypnosis audio represented sweet, sweet payback.

He eased his breathing, slowing it, taking big breaths and getting into a mild meditation state. When he felt that familiar drifting sensation, he closed his eyes and began playing the recording.

A smooth-toned male voice spoke to him gently, a droning, comforting voice taking him through a series of mental relaxation exercises, with only the slightest sexual insinuations at first and then, deeper, deeper, and there was almost no awareness of the room and the voice was suggesting things that brought a radiating heat to between his legs.

L spread his legs and the feeling got stronger, his erection beginning to rise as the voice talked him through every step of the process, suggesting how he should react, how he should feel, and his body responded marvelously to each suggestion, the voice magical, leading him on, exploring the pleasure. His penis was full, throbbing, straining upward against his clothing, every tiniest bodily shift bringing a jolt to it.

He felt almost as if he were being touched, but not really, as if a ghost-hand that was more imagination than real were jacking him off, slowly, leisurely. There was no time pressure, simply that encouraging voice in his ear and the increasing arousal, more and more, feeling oddly like the ramp-up leading to orgasm.

Without touching, he was falling into the pattern, ready for release, back arching, thrusting up into nothingness, gasping, wanting, feeling that warm throbbing sensation and then at last the rise of that feeling of inevitability right at the base of his penis. He would come. He knew it. No stopping it now.

But the tension within stayed at that raw edge of release too long. Writhing, he tried to feel more, to go that last little bit. It wasn't happening.

He sobbed into the pillows and tried to relax again, to recapture the magic of that smooth voice, and he was drawn into it almost effortlessly, falling under the spell, excitement rising. Almost there... almost... almost... he rubbed his thighs, wanting to touch, to grasp his penis firmly and bring himself to climax. It wouldn't take much, but he couldn't do it.

His entire body was like a stringed instrument, strings wound tightly and ready to play, but he couldn't touch. Rather, it was like the frustration portion of a wet dream, immersed fully in a state of strong arousal, but no release. No, no release at all.

Panting, he began coming out of the deep state he'd been in, and realized the voice was gone. He checked the player, and saw the self-hypnosis audio had played completely.

_This is not good. But, I won't lose. This does work for people, so it will work for me. Orgasms happen in the brain, not the genitals._

L got a drink of water, rubbed all his limbs briskly, and then lay down to try again. If anything, it was easier to fall under the spell the second time. He was deeper, certainly more hypnotized, aware of almost nothing except his body, which was hyper-sensitive all over, throbbing and begging for relief.

Every movement, every breath, he was drowning in arousal, completely immersed, chasing that ultimate peak, getting close to it, right to the shuddering edge. It was inevitable, unavoidable. It would happen, his body urged on and on.

And it just barely slipped away, again and again and then eventually the voice stopped talking.

L lay there in the dim light, panting hard. His penis was a sharp point of pleasure between his legs, almost unbearably aroused. His stubbornness urged him to try again, but his intellect urged him to think. He assumed his best thinking position, crouched with his knees clutched to his chest, and allowed his thoughts to flow freely.

It was not long until a most intriguing thought occurred to him, and he set out to achieve it.

He lay down again, starting the recording from the beginning, and this time he imagined wandering around until he found Light, relaxing in front of the news.

In L's imagined scene, Light turned off the television as soon as L entered. L tried to strike a sultry pose and said, "Light, I'm horny. I want to make out with you alone. I'd like to start with kissing. It's okay if I don't know how far I might go, isn't it?"

As expected, Light began looking incredibly smug and agreed. They quickly found their way to that same sofa, that was conveniently wide enough for two bodies to lie side-by-side, and L stretched out on it, coaxing Light forward with sultry looks.

Light slipped into place, facing him.

It was working, a dream-like state building, the imaginary Light reacting just as the real Light perhaps would in the same situation.

"Don't you want to stop listening to that?" Light asked.

"No, I won't stop. Whatever I need to calm myself is good for our relationship, if I'm expected to accept you as a lover. Don't you agree, Light?"

Light looked for a moment as if he might suspect something, but then the expression was gone and Light merely blinked, saying, "It's fine with me."

"Let's see," L said, and adjusted himself, seeking the right position, slipping a leg between Light's legs, and then deftly hooking behind his knee, tucking their legs together tightly, creating that feeling of closeness, almost interlaced. Everywhere from their thighs on up was just inches apart or less, a span that body heat was already crossing. The created scene was certainly dream-like, but feeling more and more real. L closed his eyes and concentrated fiercely on it.

"Why now?" Light asked.

L shut him up with a kiss, and the anonymous voice started pulling him very deeply as he tasted Light, soft lips moving against his, and just a flicker of tongue from time to time.

The situation was full of choices, every moment blossoming with possibilities, of different ways that the progress could go. Light was there to be savored, tasted, used. Light's face had that deceptively innocent look it sometimes had, the one that consistently fooled almost everyone. It was very wide-eyed and fresh, the face of a pretty schoolboy.

The world was narrowing down to little more than a keen awareness of Light. Even the voice was drifting far to the background, almost unheard, whispers at a distance. Everything was happening faster with Light's warm, close body spurring on L's arousal, provoking him, pushing him to better heights. He couldn't have imagined before that only kissing could be this good.

Light's eyes were half-closed, lustful, his arm drifting across the gap to settle on L, cradling his hip.

L muttered, "You're very persuasive," and he didn't know if he was talking to Light or to that anonymous male voice droning hypnotically in his ear, though somehow those two were perhaps the same, merged together in this magical space outside of reality.

The pent-up feelings were rising, rising with a force that surprised L. He was completely hard, panting softly, making tiny thrusts and believing that he could almost, almost reach relief without Light. His penis was immensely heavy, a swollen weight tugging on him with every shift of his hips, a heated pleasure that was almost pain, the room long since dissolved into abstractions.

In a voice that didn't quite sound like his own, L said, "Touch me, right here. I need..."

He couldn't finish his sentence. The sensations were too immediate, too strong, driving out words from his mind and he wanted, wanted, wanted and then Light's hand was reaching in, right into the boxers. Contact was a jolt, warm fingers curling around, and at that instant L let out a loud cry and began releasing in one of the most explosive orgasms he'd ever had in his life.

Time was a single moment only, shuddering and twitching. He couldn't hear or think; everything was experience, pulsating pleasure, that slippery release pouring out of him, immense quantities. Tension had turned to pure, shivering white-hot ecstasy and his system was flushed free of it all.

He wriggled slightly, wriggled, spurting still, time stretched out but beginning to flow again, distant sounds starting to impinge, thoughts forming sluggishly, the world becoming clearer, the phantom-Light fading into imagination once more, L blinking to see the huge amount of white mess he had spread all over his belly.

L was shaking, alone. He could barely breathe. There was so, so much of it, more semen that he'd ever seen himself produce. Every worry had been discharged into that white puddle, leaving behind only complete relaxation.

L sat up. He was still woozy and out of sorts. The room felt vaguely unreal, and a buzzing, lazy warmth filled his entire body. The voice was still speaking in his ears, trying to hypnotize him, and he managed to switch it off.


End file.
